Mother in dock for deaths

FAMILY members of a German mother accused of killing nine of her newborn babies testified yesterday that their suspicions that she was pregnant were met with denials.

Sabine Hilschinz, arrested after the remains were found last July in flower pots and a fish tank in her parents’ back yard, has been standing trial in state court since last week.

A sister, identified only as Jutta J, told the court in Frankfurt An Der Oder (eastern Germany) she suspected Hilschinz was pregnant about 10 or 15 years ago. But when she confronted her sister about it, she said Ms Hilschinz replied, “No, for god’s sake.”