UK Mum tries to sell baby on Gumtree
Yahoo!7 December 29, 2013, 11:49 am
A UK woman has had both her children removed from her care after she attempted to sell a young boy on Gumtree.
The Daily Mail reports a post on online classified's website Gumtree offered to sell a four-month-old boy for 150,000 pounds or 278,000 AUD.
The ad was posted on Boxing Day and was titled "baby for sale".
It initially read ‘baby, beautiful for sale deposit through pay pal email only', but was later changed to ‘baby boy for sale comes with everything included deposit needed as sick of time wasters.’
After numerous users reported the ad to UK police, officers traced the ad back to an unnamed 20-year-old mother and both her children were removed from her care.
"I had been joking with my ex about selling sperm and eggs and he sort of dared me to put up a baby for sale – but I didn’t mean our children," the woman told The Daily Mail.
"I put on Gumtree that I was selling a baby for £150,000. I just plucked that number out of thin air and I claimed I was acting as an agent for a friend.
"It was very stupid and I shouldn’t have done it, but I didn’t think it would be taken seriously.
"I love my boys and they make me so happy and I want them to be happy. It was just a silly, silly joke," she continued.
"I am so upset and just want my boys back. It is my mistake, my stupidity. It should be me who is locked up, not the boys having to live with strangers. This is making my depression even worse.
"I am so sorry. I have not even been allowed to speak to them on the phone and I don’t know when I’ll see them again. I hope it is soon and they can come back to me."
The children are understood to be fit and well.
"The child concerned, who is both fit and well, is being looked after in conjunction with relatives and social services. The mother is receiving appropriate care," Detective Inspector Vanessa Smith, of Bradford police, said.
Julie Jenkins, assistant director of children’s specialist services at Bradford council, added, "We worked with the police to establish the safety of the child and we have made sure the child and the family have appropriate support."
The woman suffers from depression and is known to social services.
