Lifestyle

Mum Who Hid Dead Babies in Bin Bags Avoids Jail and Viewers Cannot Believe It

Published on July 13, 2025

The nation has been left stunned after a woman who hid the decomposed bodies of her two newborn babies in bin bags avoided jail. Egle Zilinskaite, 31, was under investigation for fraud when police uncovered what they described as a “shocking and disturbing” discovery at her home in Bridgend.

Officers were carrying out a search related to a charity scam when they arrived at the house in Maes y Felin on 26 November 2022. According to Wales Online, It was Zilinskaite’s partner, Zilvinas Ledovskis, 50, who answered the door and let them in. As soon as they stepped inside, police noted a “foul stench” in the air, likened to the smell of fish food.

But what they found was far more disturbing. When an officer searched the attic, she came across a dense bundle of bedsheets. The smell grew worse as she pulled the object down, eventually revealing tightly tied bin bags. Inside was an orange bag, then a duvet cover with stained towels – and nestled within them, the decomposing remains of a baby boy.

Prosecutor James Wilson told Cardiff Crown Court the officer immediately realised she had found a human baby, lying on his side, with signs of decomposition already setting in.

As the investigation shifted focus, crime scene investigators were called. A second body, also a baby boy, was later found in the airing cupboard wrapped in more towels and bedsheets. Both infants were full term, and fragments of umbilical cords suggested they died around the time of birth.

Post mortems couldn’t confirm how the babies died or whether they had suffered any injuries due to their advanced decomposition. DNA tests showed they were siblings, but not twins, indicating they had been born at different times. Zilinskaite was confirmed to be their mother, and Ledovskis their father.

A yellow string from one of the bin bags also tested positive for Zilinskaite’s DNA. She later pleaded guilty to two counts of concealing the birth of a child and two counts of preventing lawful and decent burial.

The court heard Zilinskaite, a Lithuanian national, had a history of avoiding medical professionals due to a “fundamental mistrust” of doctors and authorities in both the UK and Lithuania. She had no previous convictions.

Her defence barrister, Matthew Roberts, said she was a “vulnerable, grieving mother” who gave birth alone at home to two stillborn babies. He told the court that there was no attempt to hide the bodies in a sophisticated way and that they were kept in the house because she was emotionally attached to them.

He added that she had suffered physical and emotional abuse growing up and had been in a toxic relationship with Ledovskis. Since her arrest, she’d started to rebuild her life, found work, moved to Cardiff, and arranged a proper funeral for the babies earlier this year.

Judge Tracey Lloyd-Clarke acknowledged that the babies’ deaths were not Zilinskaite’s fault but criticised her for deliberately avoiding authorities, which led to the mistreatment of the children’s remains and hampered the full investigation.

Zilinskaite was handed a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years. She must also complete 15 days of rehabilitation and 200 hours of unpaid work.

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