LAWYERS are preparing an appeal in the case of a young woman jailed for a minimum 12 years for killing her new born baby at the age of 15.

Paris Mayo from Ruardean was convicted of murder aged 19 in June 2023 after a trial at Worcester Crown Court.

Late in the case, the judge told the jury they could consider an alternative charge of infanticide – when the balance of a woman's mind is impaired by giving birth.

But the jury heard little medical or legal evidence about infanticide – which she wasn't charged with by police or prosecutors or asked to plead to – and convicted her of murdering the child at her previous Ross-on-Wye home four years earlier, which she denied.

The jailing of the teenager for a minimum 12 years sparked widespread criticism from justice experts and women's campaigners, including former chief inspector of probation and ex-chairman of the Youth Justice Board, Professor Rod Morgan.

He said: "What on earth are we doing when current penal policy suggests that this is an appropriate sentence for a child offender who killed her newborn child, but who, in the judge’s words, was “vulnerable” and “ill-supported at home”?”

The baby boy suffered head injuries and suffocated after she gave birth alone in the living room of her Springfield Avenue home, while her father lay dying upstairs from a terminal illness, passing away just 10 days later.

Her family were unaware she was pregnant, the trial was told, and it was claimed she may have been in denial about the situation.

Now, a top London law firm is preparing the grounds of an appeal, amid calls for urgent action to clarify the law on infanticide.

Shearmen Bowen have revealed: "Senior Associate Anna Ford is currently working on the appeal of our client, Paris Mayo, who was convicted of the murder of her new born child when she was 15 years old.

"We are currently advising on an appeal against that conviction.

“The case has received particular attention in the media given its wider implications for the proper application of the Infanticide Act in situations where women cause the death of their children whilst in a post-natal condition and how women are treated within the criminal justice system."

Ms Ford, a solicitor with the firm, also told The Times in an article on such cases that she had “significant concerns that the law is not applied properly and is often misconstrued”.

Lawyers and academics have asked for reform of the infanticide law by Parliament or guidance from the Court of Appeal and the CPS on the application of the law, claiming current sentencing for mothers who kill their babies lacks compassion and consistency.

They also want to see training for judges and lawyers to give them a better understanding of the law.

Emma Milne, a law professor at Durham University, said there had been a “sharp rise” in the number of murder convictions and “limited use” of the Infanticide Act over the past seven years, which, she argues, shows “the law is no longer working”.