A mum who smothered her baby boy to death with clingfilm in Fraserburgh has been sentenced to eight and a half years in prison.
Ineta Dzinguviene placed the wrap over the nose and mouth of her son Paulius Dzingus hours after he was born in Fraserburgh on April 12 2010.
The 38-year-old was sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow on Tuesday.
She had previously pled guilty to a charge of culpable homicide based on diminished responsibility at a hearing in Edinburgh.
In 2011, Dzinguviene was jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum of 15 years in jail after being found guilty murdering Paulius.
But the conviction was later quashed by appeal judges, following fresh evidence over her state of mind, which emerged after psychotherapy work while in Cornton Vale prison in Stirlingshire.
A fresh prosecution was allowed before Dzinguviene pled guilty to the reduced charge last month.
‘Killing a defenceless baby cannot be tolerated’
During Dzinguviene’s latest sentencing, Lady Poole told her: “You are now 38 years old and have had a very difficult life.
“Although your culpability at the time was diminished by your mental state, the harm you caused was extreme.
“You took the life of your son. He was a newborn baby and you deprived him of his life.
“After you killed him, you hid his body in a bag amongst rubbish in the common stairway where you lived.
“Killing a defenceless baby cannot be tolerated and you must be punished for what you did.”
The jail term was cut from 10 years, due to the guilty plea, and will be backdated to April 2010 – when Dzinguviene was first remanded in custody.
It means she has effectively served the sentence, but she faces being deported back to her homeland of Lithuania to serve a 15-year jail term imposed for murdering her three-day-old daughter Paulina in the country in 2009.
Dzinguviene had moved to Scotland with her husband and three children after killing Paulina.
‘Both babies were healthy at birth’
Prosecutor Alex Prentice KC told the hearing last month: “Both babies were healthy at birth.
“The cause of death of each was asphyxiation. Paulius – through the use of clingfilm applied to the nose and mouth. Paulina – by way of a plastic bag.
“Both bodies were subsequently concealed in suitcases or travel bags.”
The advocate depute told how the conviction for murdering her son was set aside in March 2023 on the basis that diminished responsibility may have been present.
“She has now admitted killing her child, although she has no memory of what happened,” Mr Prentice said.
The court was told the mum has now been diagnosed with complex post-traumatic stress disorder and “battered woman syndrome”.
Her lawyer Ann Ogg said on Tuesday: “It is clear at the time she was a young woman in a foreign country and had suffered previous trauma in both child and adulthood.
“She felt she had no assistance compounded by symptoms of complex post-traumatic stress disorder.”
Miss Ogg added that Dzinguviene “acknowledges what she has done, but has no recollection”.
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