A baby girl found abandoned in a shopping bag in east London earlier this year has two siblings who were found in similar circumstances in 2017 and 2019, it can now be reported. A judge at East London Family Court ruled on Monday that reporting restrictions could be changed to allow the publication of the link between the three children, following an application by the PA news agency and the BBC.
It comes after a child, named Baby Elsa by hospital staff, was found by a dog walker in Newham on January 18 this year in sub-zero temperatures. DNA testing has since shown she has a brother and sister, known as Baby Harry and Baby Roman, who were discovered abandoned in similar circumstances in the same area of the capital in 2017 and 2019 respectively.
The children’s parents are yet to be identified, with the Metropolitan Police investigation into their identities ongoing. On Monday, Judge Carol Atkinson ruled restrictions should be lifted to allow the reporting of the relationship between the children, claiming it was needed for the “openness of justice”.
She said: “There is a clear public interest in reporting this story. The abandonment of a baby in this country is a very, very unusual event and there are years where there are no children abandoned, and because of that it is the story of the abandoning of a child that is of public interest.”
She continued: “It is for the same reason, in our current society, of enormous interest and importance that people know that there is a mother and father out there who felt the need to relinquish their children in this way, three times, and that is of considerable interest, it seems to me.
“If I restrict these rights and the reporting of that story, I think that does impact on public consciousness of these sorts of matters. It restricts the openness of justice.”
While journalists can usually attend family court proceedings, reporting restrictions limit what can be published to protect the anonymity of those involved. A pilot scheme to increase transparency in the family court system, which began with three courts in 2023, was expanded earlier this year to allow accredited journalists and legal bloggers to report on cases at 16 courts across England and Wales.
Judges can set out what details may be reported under a Transparency Order, with journalists also allowed to access some documents. Following an application made by PA and the BBC, Judge Atkinson varied the Transparency Order in Elsa’s case to allow reporting of the fact she has two siblings and other details.
Only certain other details of the three children, who are black, may be reported. Baby Elsa was believed to be less than an hour old when she was found abandoned in a shopping bag at the junction of Greenway and High Street South in East Ham on January 18 this year.
Her sister, Baby Roman, was found in similar circumstances in a play area off Roman Road, Newham, in early February 2019, as freezing temperatures and snow gripped the capital. In September 2017, Baby Harry was found wrapped in a white blanket in Balaam Street, Plaistow.
Harry and Roman – not their real names – have since been adopted. But barrister Kate Claxton, representing Newham London Borough Council, previously told the court that the ongoing investigation means that Elsa’s birth cannot be registered, meaning no final decision regarding her care can be made.
A further hearing in her case is expected to be held at a later date. Detective Sergeant Laurence Dight, from the Metropolitan Police, told the court on Monday that the police investigation into the identity of the parents remained ongoing, with anyone with information as to the parents’ identities asked to contact the force using the reference CAD 6876/18 Jan.
Baby Elsa
Baby Elsa was found in freezing temperatures in East Ham on the night of January 18 this year. It is believed she was less than an hour old when she was found by a dog walker, wrapped in a towel in a reusable shopping bag with her umbilical cord still attached.
She was discovered at the junction of Greenway and High Street South and was named Elsa by hospital staff who cared for her, in reference to the freezing temperatures in which she was found and the character from the film Frozen.
The Metropolitan Police said at the time it was “highly likely” that Elsa was born after a “concealed pregnancy”.
The woman who left Elsa was spotted entering the Greenway from the High Street South entrance at around 8.45pm on the night of January 18, around half an hour before she was found.
Appealing for her mother to come forward in January, Chief Superintendent Simon Crick, lead for policing in Newham, urged anyone with information to urgently get in touch.
The BBC reported that a previous court hearing was told it took doctors three hours to record Elsa’s temperature due to the cold, with the Met Office confirming temperatures dropped as low as minus 4C on the night.
A court-appointed guardian asked the court at the earlier hearing to change the name picked by hospital staff, but Judge Atkinson refused the request as it gave the child something to “hang on to”.
Barristers for Newham London Borough Council told the court in April that due to the ongoing investigation into the identity of her parents, no final decision on her care could be made, with a future hearing expected at a later date.
Baby Roman
Baby Roman was also found in freezing temperatures just under five years earlier. Police were called to a park area close to Roman Road and Saxon Road in East Ham at around 10.15pm on January 30 2019.
The force said at the time that the baby was found wrapped in a white towel which was put in a shopping bag and then placed on the ground next to a bench in the small children’s playpark. No attempt had been made to hide her.
She was found by a dog walker, Rima Zvaliauskas, who told the BBC in 2019 that she was “shocked and stressed” by the discovery after hearing a noise coming from a bag. Roman – not her real name – has since been adopted.
Baby Harry
Baby Harry was found wrapped in a white blanket and abandoned in a park on September 17 2017. The boy, named Harry by medical staff, was discovered in an area off Balaam Road in Plaistow, east London. Harry – not his real name – was cared for at a hospital before being discharged and has since been adopted.