Mother jailed seven years for freezing baby

Nathalie De Mey, 32, was convicted by an all-female jury in the southwestern French city of Carcassonne for the February 2, 2011, murder.

Murder of a minor is normally punishable by a life sentence, but De Mey's term was reduced because she was deemed to have had a temporary loss of judgement.

On Wednesday when De Mey was asked why she did not choose a "more violent" method to kill the infant, she replied: "I didn't want to hurt him."

Her lawyer Pierre Calvet's argument of temporary loss of judgement was confirmed by a psychiatric assessment.

De Mey, who has two living daughters, said she had gone on several alcoholic binges during her pregnancy.

"When I realised I was pregnant, I tried to get help... but it was too late," she testified.

She recounted how she gave birth to the child over a toilet.

"When the baby came out, I caught him by the head so he wouldn't fall in the water, then I cut the cord with scissors."

Hours later, she said, she placed the baby, swaddled in a blanket, in the freezer.

The dead baby was discovered by the father of De Mey's two daughters three months later.