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A mother of three has been sentenced for destroying her unborn child and lying about what happened, in a landmark case in Greater Manchester.

Maisha Ahmed Mohamed (born 01/01/85) of Wray Gardens in Levenshulme was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court today Thursday 24 May 2007, to 12 months in prison suspended for 12 months for child destruction.

This is the first time anyone has been convicted of child destruction in Greater Manchester. However officers have never been able to trace exactly what happened to the unborn child.

Child destruction is a charge that is rarely used. It formed part of the infant life preservation act 1929. It was then laid down in the 1958 crimes act which states; "Any person who, with intent to destroy the life of a child capable of being born alive, by any wilful act unlawfully causes such child to die before it has an existence independent of its mother shall be guilty of the indictable offence of child destruction.

"Evidence that a woman had at any material time been pregnant for a period of 28 weeks or more shall be prima facie proof that she was at that time pregnant of a child capable of being born."

On 17 January 2006, when Maisha was approximately 28 weeks pregnant, a foetal heartbeat was detected during a routine scan. At a further check up, on 7 February 2007, there was also no report of any abnormalities with the pregnancy.

On Tuesday 28 February 2006, when she should have been 34 weeks pregnant, Maisha went to Levenshulme Health Centre for checkup. She reported to medical staff that a week earlier she had suffered a bleed and that she had not felt the baby move since.

On further examination it transpired that Maisha was no longer pregnant.

On 2 March 2007 Maisha was visited by a midwife. When questioned about the disappearance of her foetus, she claimed that the baby boy had been born in Liverpool but was not breathing.

Police were contacted and, when they questioned Maisha about where the baby was, she told them she had put it in the bin.

Maisha was arrested on suspicion of child destruction and was questioned by officers. During questioning she gave various accounts of how and when she had come to lose the baby, as well as what had happened to the remains following the miscarriage.

Officers have so far not been able to trace the child's remains.

Detective Inspector Brian King from Longsight CID said: "This was an extremely distressing case for everyone involved.

"Throughout the course of the investigation, Maisha has consistently lied about what happened to her baby and has shown little remorse for what she did.

"We may never really know what happened to this child or Maisha's real reasons for doing what she did."