Woman who Kidnapped girl from Hospital 18 years ago.....

Spot on bdj. Horrendous anyone would see this differently.

tbf i was reading about this and the natural parents seem like deadbeats , the dad was actually in jail at the time of the birth and then they put him back in when they found out the mum was 15 at the time he got her pregnant.

Meanwhile , whatever issues she had in the 1990s , the fake mom does seem to have done a great job of bringing the girl up..

The girl won't hear a word against fake mom

So it is complicated imo

It's very tough on the girl but kidnapping can never be mitigated or everyone would be at it.

they probably see daughter as victim and not real parents despite their suffering

i guess her thoughts could mitigate length of sentence

I think you're looking at it the wrong way Tobermory.
Only the initial crime is relevant.
Her being a good mother to the girl shouldn't  be taken into consideration.
Similar you need to ignore her real parents shortcomings.
If you did otherwise and were lenient it would only encourage others.

You would surely have to consider the miscreant's mental state at the time of the offence? She can't have been in her right mind, surely? Do we know anything about her background, any trauma she may have suffered that may have led to such an action?

I haven't read anything about this case, sorry to impose, but can anyone tell me how this came to light after so long?

That would be relevant had the girl been returned within weeks or maybe even months after the abduction but 18 years, don't think so.

At the time she stole the baby I doubt she had any idea who the parents were, its a disgusting crime regardless if she was a model parent she needs locking up for a long time.

i read it was police acting on a tip off ,visited and took dna to prove who she was
...this matched with swab kept by hospital

the kidnapper had reportedly suffered a miscarriage shortly before the kidnapping

Very easy for us to be hawkish - and to be fair I would also invest little mitigation in how well the child was brought up - but the miscarriage would weigh heavily for me.

I haven't read anything about this case, sorry to impose, but can anyone tell me how this came to light after so long?

To add to what Donny said i also read that the girl herself found something out not long before but don't know if that inadvertently brought the police in.

She had just turned 18 and someone speculated she had to provide a birth certificate for university or something

When I say easy, I mean as men. We can have no grasp of the effects of these things on women imo

'My mother raised me with everything I needed and most of all everything I wanted,' she wrote. 'My mother is no felon.'

A heartfelt plea, or an unbreakable and hideous example of Stockholm Syndrome?

Stockholm Syndrome has to be where the person is aware they have been kidnapped surely

I'm not an expert tobes sorry, but I would imagine so. Still, she's aware now..