A WOMAN who gave birth in secrecy at a farm in Famagusta was remanded for eight days yesterday suspected of concealing the birth and of manlaughter, after a state pathologist said a post mortem indicated the baby was born alive.

State pathologist Eleni Antoniou who did a post-mortem on Sunday said that there was reason to think the baby girl had been born alive. 

“But it will only be clear whether this was the case after further tests,” Famagusta police spokesman George Economou said. 

The 41-year-old Bulgarian woman was admitted to Famagusta general hospital in Paralimni on Saturday morning. She had been bleeding since Friday afternoon when she gave birth at a farm in Famagusta’s Sotira where she worked. 

The woman eventually told doctors about the birth, adding the baby was born dead, and police found the body on Saturday evening, wrapped in towels among rubbish at the Sotira farm. The woman was arrested the same night – guarded in Famagusta hospital – in relation to concealing a birth, later adding manslaughter to the investigations, following the post-mortem. 

The remand hearing took place in hospital yesterday with the woman reserving her right to silence. She is expected to be released from hospital today, while still on remand. 

The 41-year-old woman arrived in Cyprus four months ago and has been working in Sotira.

Her employers told the police they were not aware of her pregnancy.

A BRITISH teenager that pleaded guilty to a charge of manslaughter over the stabbing death of a British soldier will be sentenced tomorrow.

In a change of plea last month, Mohammed Abdulkadir Osman, 19, admitted killing Private David Lee Collins, 19, during a confrontation at a nightclub in Ayia Napa in the early hours of November 4 last year.

His change of plea from not guilty to guilty saw charges against two of his friends being dropped. 

The two friends, who are now back in the UK put themselves at the scene of the crime but insisted they played no part in the violence.

In mitigation yesterday, Osman’s legal team claimed there was no premeditation when his client stabbed the soldier, and asked the court for leniency.

"That there was no premeditation on the part of the defendant is proven by the facts since the victim and defendant didn't know each other," lawyer Kypros Andreou told judges at Larnaca District Court.

Andreou added that the court should take into account the fact that everyone involved in the brawl had been drinking alcohol prior to the stabbing. 

The mitigation hearing was attended by the mother of Private Collins and the parents of Osman.

A day after being arrested, Osman, who is of Somali origin admitted stabbing Collins, but insisted he was acting in self-defence when he and his friends were allegedly attacked by a group of off-duty soldiers.

Osman claimed he waved a knife solely to intimidate them. But one had “jumped on to the blade”.  

Private Collins was stationed at Dhekelia garrison with the Second Battalion Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

An autopsy concluded Collins died from a “ruptured heart caused by a sharp instrument”.

Police said a switchblade was recovered at the scene of the crime and 11 similar knives were found in the trio’s hotel room along with a sizeable quantity of cannabis and a knuckleduster.

Osman admitted buying the weapons at a shop in Ayia Napa but said they were to take home as gifts for friends, police said.

Manslaughter carries a maximum life sentence in Cyprus.  State prosecutor Andri Constantinou said Osman may request to serve his sentence in a British jail.

The fatal confrontation happened near Ayia Napa’s central square – an area long out of bounds to all British forces personnel between 5pm and 10am because of previous incidents.