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Three newborn babies that have been abandoned in east London over the last seven years all share the same parents, it has been revealed.
The mother and father of the children, who were found in parks in Plaistow and Newham, have not yet been found and on Monday a judge ruled that the press was allowed to report the link between them.
It comes after a baby girl who was just one hour old was found by a dog walker in a shopping bag on a freezing night in Newham, in January this year.
The child, who was called Baby Elsa – after the character from Frozen – by hospital staff, was not injured in any way as police launched an appeal asking for the mother to come forward.
DNA tests have since shown that the girl is the full sibling of Baby Harry who was found abandoned in a park in Plaistow in 2017 and Baby Roman who was found in a park in Newham in 2019.
Judge Carol Atkinson at the East London Family Court amended restrictions to allow the familial link between the three to be reported following an application by PA news agency and the BBC.
She said it was of ‘great public interest’ and doing so could help identify the biological parents who still have not been found.
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The oldest child, known as Harry, was found in a park close to Balaam Street in Plaistow, east London, on September 17, 2017.
He was found wrapped in a white blanket at 8.20am before being rushed to hospital, sparking a police appeal for the mother to come forward.
This was followed by the discovery of the second baby who was found inside a shopping bag next to a bench in a park in Newham, east London, on January 31, 2019.
The child, who was named Roman after being found on Roman Road, was reportedly wrapped in a towel and placed in a Sainsbury’s bag.
The newborn was found by a Lithuanian grandmother and her son while they were walking their dog 100 yards from their home.
Rima Zvaliauskiene said at the time: ‘There was a crying noise from the bag. She was crying for her life. The baby saved herself.’
She added, in an interview with Sun Online: ‘At first I thought it was an animal’.
Her son, Ovidijus, added: ‘She looked a bit purple. She very cold to the touch. Her forehead and ears looked like they were a bit frosty, she was cold.
‘We feel great that we helped save the baby’s life. I’m glad we were there or the baby might not have survived too much longer’.
Police launched another appeal for the mother to come forward after this, but the fact that Roman was related to Harry was not made public knowledge.
Then on January 18 this year a third newborn, known as Elsa, was found by a dog walker at the junction of Greenway and High Street South in Newham after being alerted by her crying.
Like with Roman, Elsa was found dumped in a shopping bag and was believed to be just one-hour old when she was found at 9.13pm as temperatures plunged to -4C on the cold winter night.
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One local restaurant manager, Tania Iurac, told how she saw a ‘commotion’ while walking home from work after the newborn was left in a ‘really visible area’.
Ms Iurac, 25, said she and her flatmate saw up to seven police officers at the scene around two hours after the baby was discovered.
‘I saw a commotion by Greenway park. We saw a white towel on the floor surrounded by six to seven police officers.
‘The towel was by a red route clearway sign. But the baby and the plastic bag weren’t there.
‘I think the mother wanted the baby to be found. The towel was in a really visible area next to the main road. It was absolutely freezing last night.’
Her friend Andreea Plic, 26, explained that she was concerned by the number of officers in the area as she walked back from work at around 11pm and decided it was best to get home.
She told The Times: ‘I talked with my friend, Tania, and I said, let’s go outside to ask what happened. So when I go outside, I just saw the towel.’
Ms Iurac said that it was ‘horrible’ finding out someone had done this, but added to the newspaper: ‘She may be a teenager and being scared about what happened in her life and not being ready for it, and left it outside for someone to find it.’
Speaking a day after Elsa was found Chief Superintendent Simon Crick, local policing commander for north-east London, said the child was believed to be black or mixed race and urged the mother to make herself known.
He said: ‘We are extremely concerned for her welfare as she would have been through a traumatic ordeal and will be in need of immediate medical attention following the birth.
‘Trained medics and specialist officers are ready to support her and we urge her to get in touch by phone or walk into the nearest hospital or police station. If you are the baby’s mother, please know that your daughter is well. No matter what your circumstances, please do seek help.’
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Harry and Roman have both since been adopted, while Elsa is still in care. The names of all three have since been changed.
Judge Atkinson ruled on Monday that reporting the information that the three children were biological siblings was in the public interest.
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.
‘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.’
It comes following efforts to increase transparency in the family court system.
Previously, reporters have had access to courts dealing with sensitive matters involving children, despite them being closed to the public.
However, reporting has been highly restricted to only what a judge will allow, to protect the identities of those involved.
Under a new transparency pilot scheme, introduced last year, accredited journalists and legal bloggers could access three family courts – Leeds, Cardiff and Carlisle – to report on cases more freely.
This was expanded earlier this year to allow accredited journalists and legal bloggers to report on cases to 16 courts across England and Wales as they happen, as they would do in the criminal courts.
This includes East London Family Court, as well as Manchester, Nottingham, the Central Family Court in London and others.
While the identities of the families and certain professionals involved remain protected, judges can set out what details may be reported under a Transparency Order, with journalists also allowed to access some documents.
Families can also talk to a journalist about their case, without risking punishment for contempt of court.
However, judges can still decide that some cases may not be reported on or that reporting should be postponed in certain circumstances.
In Baby Elsa’s case, the PA news agency and the BBC applied for the court to vary the terms of the Transparency Order to allow reporting that she has two siblings and other details.