The killer of a newborn baby found murdered in Co Down nearly a year ago could murder again, police have warned.
The body of the infant girl was found by children in a black plastic bin bag dumped in undergrowth at the back of a leisure centre in Carryduff, just south of Belfast, last March.
The extent of the injuries suffered nor the possibility it could happen again were not revealed until her inquest yesterday.
It was told the infant suffered but survived 11 stab wounds to the head, body and limbs before eventually being killed by being battered against a wall or floor or hit over the head with a blunt object.
Det Chief Insp Roy McCombe, who named the infant Baby Carrie as he conducted the murder investigation, told the Belfast coroner, Mr John Leckey, that he did not believe the unknown mother of the child was the murderer.
"I believe someone other than the mother committed the murder," he said. "Another pair of hands" was responsible.
Det Chief Insp McCombe added: "My concern is that Carrie's mother is under the control of another person. We have genuine concerns for the safety of the mother."
Supporting a renewed appeal for the mother to contact police, the coroner asked Det Chief Insp McCombe: "Carrie's mother is not a murderess, someone else committed this heinous crime?" He responded yes.
Det Chief Insp McCombe said he had an open mind on whether the killer was a man or woman, adding: "The person who can take the life of Baby Carrie is potentially able to take the life of another child."
In the wake of the discovery of the baby's body, police carried out a massive and ongoing murder investigation which spread beyond the Carryduff area to Britain and the Republic in an unsuccessful attempt to identify the mother.
The state pathologist, Prof Jack Crane, told the inquest the infant had been full term and there was no evidence of underlying natural disease or congenital abnormality.
He said the baby had not been washed, its umbilical cord was still attached and there was staining of the skin by a peat-like material indicating the body had been buried in the material prior to being disposed of in the bin bag.