Woman, 57, arrested on suspicion of homicide over demise of child in 1982

A woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder over the death of a newborn baby girl who was found in Northampton in 1982. 

The 57-year-old was taken to a location in the county where she was quizzed by murder detectives, police said. 

The woman, who would have been aged 15 at the time when the baby was found, was this afternoon released on bail.

The case was the subject of a major police investigation at the time, but nobody was ever prosecuted and the inquiry closed in 1993.

However, new evidence surfaced in 2023 following a cold case review by Northamptonshire Police, leading to this week’s arrest.

Detective Chief Inspector Johnny Campbell, from the Major Crime Team of the East Midlands Special Operations Unit, said: ‘This has been an extremely complex investigation into events that happened more than four decades ago and a great deal of work has gone in to getting us to this point.

‘Dozens of officers from both Northamptonshire Police and our colleagues in the region, have been involved in the operation over the past 48 hours or more and I would like to thank all of them for their work.

‘This inquiry remains live and ongoing and, as such, Northamptonshire Police will be making no further comment at this time.’