Fatima Ali wanted the birth to remain a secret

A woman who placed the body of her newborn baby in her friend's garden to keep the birth a secret has walked free from court.

Fatima Ali, 26, wanted to conceal the out-of-wedlock birth from her family, friends and work colleagues in Bury, Greater Manchester.

The baby girl died within two hours of her cutting its umbilical cord in her bedroom, Bolton Crown Court heard. The judge told Ali that "had you acted appropriately her life could have been saved."

However then the shop manager left the baby's body in the house to go out with her family before she disposed of it on the way to work the following morning as she "sought to keep it her secret...forever".

Subsequently named Aliyah by police, meaning beautiful in Arabic, the baby was found wrapped in a shawl in the corner of a garden in Tinline Street, Bury, in September 2010.

Fatima Ali, of Alfred Street, pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to endeavouring to conceal the birth of a child and cruelty to a person under 16.

The offence of cruelty related to the defendant not seeking prompt medical attention when the baby - named previously in court as Malaikah Dua Hussain -was born.

A post-mortem examination could not determine the cause of death.

Sentencing her to 26 weeks in jail, suspended for two years, Judge John Appleby said: "The tragedy that followed is of immense disaster for this child.

"There is no evidence that you ill-treated or assaulted the child and it is still a mystery perhaps as to the course of action you took following her birth.

"It is evident that you have suffered from psychological stress and trauma for a number of years.

"At the time of these offences your decision making and thought processes would have been compromised, according to the medical reports on you."