I will ALWAYS be her mother': Woman convicted of snatching 'South Africa's Madeleine McCann' from her hospital cot and bringing her up for 18 YEARS says she 'wants to be in her life'

Convicted: The 51-year-old defendant is pictured arriving in court in Cape Town today where she would be found guilty of kidnapping Zephany Nurse, known as South Africa's Madeleine McCann

Two weeks ago we brought the trial of the woman who stole a baby from a hospital cot in south Africa, 18 years ago. Read the verdict here ...

 Seamstress convicted of kidnapping says she 'wants to be in her (girl's) life' 

   Woman who stole baby 18 years ago has been found guilty of kidnapping
 
   Zephany Nurse was snatched from a hospital in South Africa in April, 1997. Convict, who lied to her family about the girl's identity, faces 10 years in jail

    Kidnapper, 51, said a mystery woman handed her the baby at a train station and she paid 50 pounds for baby ... Judge branded the web of lies 'a fairytale’ and ‘astonishing to say the least'
   

A woman who dressed as a nurse, snatched a three-day-old baby from her hospital cot and brought her up for 18 years faces a decade in jail after being found guilty of kidnap – as the judge branded her tissue of lies as a ‘fairytale’

The biological family of the now teenager, who was brought up in a web of deceit and is known as South Africa's Madeleine McCann, gave a low cheer as Judge John Hlope refused to grant bail while the 51-year-old kidnapper waits to be sentenced.

The woman took Zephany Nurse from Groote Schuur hospital in Cape Town in April 1997 while her mother was in bed recovering from a C-section. 

Photo: AP
Relief: The biological family of the now teenager cheered as the judge refused to grant bail while the 51-year-old kidnapper waits to be sentenced. Pictured: Zephany's real parents, Celeste Morne (top) and Morne (below)

Photo: AP
The biological family: Zephany's father, Morne

The seamstress, 51, who cannot be identified, had told the court she hid a miscarriage from her husband and had bought the baby for £50 at a train station from a woman who promised to help her with an adoption.

Her lies meant her betrayed husband brought the baby up as his own, unbeknown to him his wife’s dark secret.

But her web of lies came crashing down today as she was convicted of kidnap and led down to the cells – and now faces ten years behind bars.

Speaking to MailOnline as she prepared to hear her fate this morning, she said: 'I’m not sorry I took her when the woman handed her over that day. I will always be in her life if she wants me.

'To me, I will always be her mother. I am sorry she found out the way she did. I am sorry for what the Nurse family has been through and I am happy they found her, I am proud of her.' 

Photo: APGuilty: The woman said she had unexpectedly been handed a newborn at a busy train station by a mystery middle-woman working for ‘Sylvia’. Her claim was dismissed by the judge as ‘a fairytale’ and ‘astonishing'

Photo: AP'Mother': The kidnapper told MailOnline she would ‘always be the girl's mother’ and apologised for the way her 'daughter' found out

The teenager only learned of her true identity last year after an extraordinary twist in the lifelong hunt for her – when she made friends with a girl at school who turned out to be her sister.

The wood-pannelled court was packed with relatives and friends from the two families, who both hail from Lavender Hill, a poor suburb of Cape Town, which has been bitterly divided since the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Zephany was revealed.

There were murmurs of agreement as Prosecutor Evadne Kortjie argued against giving the defendant bail, claiming she ‘posed a threat to the public’ if she was allowed to keep her freedom.

Biological mother Celeste Nurse broke down as Judge Hlope denied freedom to the woman who had deprived her of her first born’s childhood.

Although they have been reunited with their long lost child, the reunion between the family appears to have been fraught.

Today, the kidnapper’s husband claimed Zephany, who is known by another name, has ‘abandoned’ her biological family in favour of the one who raised her.

The 52-year-old electrician, who was left ‘broken’ last year when he discovered his beloved ‘daughter’ was not his, told MailOnline how the teenager remained ‘close’ to him and his wife, despite the defendant’s appalling deceit.

‘She has abandoned the Nurses as a result of what has happened,’ he said, as he waited for the verdict in his wife’s trial.

Photo: AP'Biological mother': Mrs Nurse (pictured centre leaving court today) only attended the fraught trial briefly to give her evidence

Photo: APEmotions: Celeste Nurse broke down as the judge denied freedom to the woman who took her daughter

Photo: APInvestigator: Zephany dad,  Morne Nurse told the court how he had solved South Africa’s most famous missing person mystery himself after the couple’s daughter Cassidy, now 16, struck up a friendship with a girl at school

Photo: APRelatives: Zephra Nurse, Zephany's grandmother, is pictured leaving the court in Cape Town, South Africa

'The main thing is that all of us should act like adults and put this child first. She is the most important person in this situation. Whatever happens now, she won’t be made to stay away from us, that is her choice, she is an adult.’

Giving evidence at her trial at the Western Cape High Court, the defendant admitted she had deceived her husband and ‘child’ for almost two decades, choosing not to tell them the truth until she was arrested by police last year.

She had miscarried a baby in December in 1996, she told the court, but decided not to tell her family or friends. 

She claimed she paid a deposit to a woman called Sylvia ‘who promised me help with fertility treatment and/or adoption’, and pretended to be pregnant while she attempted to conceive.

Newborn: Zephany, pictured as a baby, was stolen from Groote Schuur hospital in Cape Town, in April 1997

Photo: Barcroft MediaBaby: Zephany Nurse was snatched from her hospital cot in the maternity ward in Cape Town in 1997 and spent the next 18 years being brought up by another family

Appeals: The family has worked hard to make sure people don't forget about their missing daughter over the years, including a big appeal in 2010 in the local newspaper the Cape Argus, but no one ever come forward

CONVICTED KIDNAPPER: 'I WILL ALWAYS BE IN HER LIFE IF SHE WANTS ME'

As she prepared to hear her fate, the kidnapper gave an impromptu interview to MailOnline at a busy coffee shop opposite court, insisting that she would ‘always be the girl's mother’.

'I’m not sorry I took her when the woman handed her over that day,' she said. 'I will always be in her life if she wants me. 

'To me, I will always be her mother. I am sorry she found out the way she did. I am sorry for what the Nurse family has been through and I am happy they found her, I am proud of her.' 

The woman, who was banned under the terms of her bail conditions from having contact with the girl, added: ‘I miss making food and clothes for her, we used to go shopping together. I miss her a lot. 

'I used to do everything for her, it is hard not to be able to do that now. I am not afraid of losing her, we give her love. 

'She was raised well, she had everything a child wanted. Whatever decision she makes, we will still be in her life.’ 

The accused’s husband, a gentle, quietly-spoken electrician sitting next to his wife, revealed their 'daughter' is still living with him and is standing by the woman who raised her.

'She is strong, but I am also worried about her,' he said. 'I want her to have a relationship with her birth parents, I can’t stand in the way of that, we both want that.'

Asked if he forgave his wife for lying to him for so long, he said: 'I still feel the same for my wife, I have all the love still for her. My family is split up now, my wife can’t be with us. 

'Our daughter wants her mother to come home, to be a family again. She has forgiven her and still thinks of her as her mother.'

He revealed that following a row some months ago, the teenager has not had contact with her biological parents.

‘She is not having any contact with them. She had a tiff with them and just blocked them out, I don’t want to say any more than that.’

During the trial, the atmosphere between the two families and their supporters in the public gallery was fraught. 

Outside court, Morne Nurse had dismissed the kidnapper’s husband as ‘an idiot’ for not realising his wife had deceived him. But the defendant’s husband refused to hit back.

‘We are family, we are fathers, we are examples to our children,' he added. 'We must respect each other as grown ups, our children look up to me. 

'Really, I had no idea that she wasn’t my child. People used to tell me she looked like me and I thought she was mine.'

The stocky dark-haired woman admitted she had been ‘desperate’ for a child, but insisted she had not stolen the newborn girl from Groote Schuur hospital in Cape Town, in April 1997. 

Her extraordinary claim to the court - that she had unexpectedly been handed a newborn at a busy Cape Town train station by a mystery middle-woman working for ‘Sylvia’ - was dismissed by Judge John Hlope as ‘a fairytale’ and ‘astonishing to say the least'. 

Mrs Nurse, who only attended the fraught trial briefly to give her evidence, broke down as she recalled how she had been dozing in her bed when a woman dressed in a hospital uniform offered to pick up her crying child. She did not see her daughter again for nearly two decades.

In his testimony, Morne Nurse told the court how he had solved South Africa’s most famous missing person mystery himself after the couple’s daughter Cassidy, now 16, struck up a friendship with a girl at school, in January last year.

Photo: Barcroft Media
Unbelievable: Zephany - pictured here as a baby with a family member - grew up just a few streets away from her biological parents in Lavender Hill, a poor suburb of Cape Town

Photo: Barcroft Media
Precious: The family only have a few photos of Zephany taken before she was snatched. She is pictured here with her uncle Abraham Nurse in Hospital on April 29, 1997

After seeing a remarkable resemblance between the older girl to his two other children, Mr Nurse began to suspect that the teenager was his missing daughter and launched his own investigation. 

He gently quizzed the then 17-year-old about her date of birth and other family details and downloaded a picture of the girl’s ‘mother’ from her Facebook page, which he sent to an eye witness who had helped police at the time of the kidnapping. 

Convinced that the teenager was in fact his own long lost child, he approached the police who interviewed the defendant and carried out DNA tests, which confirmed the father’s suspicions.

The accused was picked out from an identity parade last year by Shireen Piet, a patient on the maternity ward in April 1997, who told how she had caught the defendant attempting to snatch her own newborn baby. 

Mrs Piet had helped create a photo-fit of the defendant at the time of Zephany’s disappearance that bears a striking resemblance to her.

Photo: Nurse FamilyNever forgotten: The Nurse family celebrated Zephany's birthday each year in her absence, in the hope that one day she might return to them

Photo: Barcroft MediaHope: One of the 17 birthday cakes made for the Nurse family's beloved daughter, featuring her picture

At the time of her arrest, the accused claimed she had given birth to her daughter at a mobile maternity unit, but changed her story once DNA results revealed they could not be related.

Rejecting her testimony to the court, Judge Hlope told the accused,:‘One does not have to be rocket scientist to know that you don’t buy a child. 

'Human beings are not bought, you don’t buy a child in South Africa. Your story is a fairytale and this court rejects it with the contempt it deserves.’

In addition to being found guilty of kidnapping, the accused was convicted of fraud relating to an application for a birth certificate for the stolen child in order to get her into school.

She was also convicted of breaking child protection laws for knowingly raising a child she knew not to be her own.

The woman faces up to a decade behind bars for her crimes, which robbed the Nurse family of their first child’s entire childhood.

Defence lawyers have requested social and psychological reports in advance of sentencing on May 30.

Photo: Halden Krog/Barcroft MediaReunited: Zephany's real parents, Morne and Celeste were reunited with their daughter after almost two decades. The girl who was snatched was given a new name and neither she nor the defendant can be identified

Photo: Jane FlanaganBiological father: The defendant apologised to Morne (pictured) and Celeste Nurse for suffering during their daughter’s entire childhood

Courtesy: Mail

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