Baby 'dumped' down 8ft drain survived for FIVE days: Mother charged with attempted murder

A MOTHER has been charged with attempted murder after she allegedly abandoned her week-old son in a roadside drain, police confirmed today.

The baby was alone in the 8-foot deep drain for five days before passers-by on the busy M7 Motorway heard his cries.
After dragging away a heavy concrete drain cover, the passing group of cyclists discovered the malnourished and dehydrated infant hidden at the bottom of the drain, wrapped in a hospital blanket.
Police now believe the baby was born last Monday and was pushed through the narrow stormwater drain opening just 24 hours later – dropping more than two metres to the bottom of the motorway drain below.
The boy is in a serious but stable condition in Westmead Children's Hospital, in Sydney, it has been confirmed.
The child's mother was identified using hospital record checks and house-to-house enquiries in the Sydney suburb of Quakers Hill, in Australia.
The 30-year-old woman did not appear in the Blacktown Local Court today to answer the attempted murder charge – which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison.
Her lawyer did not apply for bail or enter a plea to the charge.
The mother will remain in custody until her appearance in the Penrith Local Court, on Friday.
A police spokesperson said: "A woman has been charged with attempted murder after a newborn baby was found in a drain in Sydney's west on Sunday.
"Police will allege the baby, believed to have been born on Monday, was placed into the drain on Tuesday 18 November."

David Otte and his daughter Hayley were the first people to hear the baby's cries from the drain