Where are Britain’s youngest parents now – from 12-year-old mum’s fourth pregnancy to paternity shock & jail over theft | The Sun

THEY were still children themselves when they were thrust into the limelight.

But what has happened to Britain's youngest parents in the years since?

This week, we revealed how Britain's youngest mum Tressa Middleton, who gave birth at 12 years old, is now expecting her fourth child.

The 29-year-old, from Bathgate, West Lothian, in Scotland, shared a photo of a baby scan on Facebook 17 years on from her first pregnancy making national headlines.

In the post, she gushed: "So guys, it's another girl!! Can't believe it, four girls, good luck Darren."

As the expectant mother shares her happy news, we look back at Tressa's heartwrenching story and what happened next to Britain's other youngest parents.

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Horrific attack

Tressa was just 11 years old when her pregnancy became known and was believed to have been the result of an alcohol-related encounter.

Raised in a troubled home with a mother who had addiction issues, Tressa gave birth shortly after leaving primary school.

Her child was removed from her care and adopted two years after she gave birth, after the young mum struggled with depression and addictions to alcohol and cigarettes.

The father's identity remained a secret until 2009 when the young mum broke down and revealed to authorities that she had been raped by her older brother Jason.

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Jason, now 34, was jailed for four years in 2009 after being incriminated by DNA evidence and was revealed to have sexually abused her from the age of seven.

In 2011, Tressa told the Daily Mail: "'Sometimes he bribed me, blackmailed me, to do it.

"He'd say he was going to tell Mum. He'd give me things – joints, drink, cigarettes. Or he'd threaten me."

Since then, Tressa has fought to piece her life back together and managed to get clean after developing a £400-a-day heroin addiction.

She is now expecting her third child with partner Darren Young.

UK's most recent youngest mum

Tressa held onto the title of Britain's youngest mum for 15 years until The Sun reported an 11-year-old had given birth in 2021.

The girl, who was not named for legal reasons, was raped when she was just 10.

Her family had no idea about the horrific attack and at the time, social services investigated the case.

"It has come as a big shock," a source who knew the family told The Sun in 2021.

"She’s now being surrounded by expert help. The main thing is that she and the baby are OK."

Baby-faced dad

When it was revealed that Alfie Patten was to become father at 13 years old, the story garnered widespread attention.

Even, then Prime Minister David Cameron commented on the 2009 case, who was believed to have become a father before being old enough to legally purchase party poppers.

"I just thought how worrying that in Britain today children are having children," the Tory leader said at the time.

Alfie thought he'd got his 15-year-old girlfriend Chantelle Steadman pregnant when he was just 12 after they had sex at a sleepover in Lower Dicker, East Sussex.

But a DNA test six weeks after baby Maisie's birth proved that he wasn't actually the father. Later, 14-year-old Tyler Barker claimed to be the child's real dad.

"I was devastated," Alfie told The Sun in 2014. "It was too much to take in. I cried for days and barely left my room.

“To make things worse I never saw Maisie again because Chantelle and her family moved away as soon as they found out I wasn’t the dad.

“I couldn’t face doing anything. I couldn’t go to school. I thought my world had ended."

By 2019, Alfie was unemployed, battling alcoholism and dealing with legal troubles.

He was convicted of criminal damage after smashing up cars while already on a suspended sentence for shoplifting, theft and possession of an imitation firearm.

In March 2021, he and his mum were booted out of their home for alleged drug dealing, the Daily Mail reported.

UK's youngest father

Before Alfie's case, Sean Stewart was beleived to be Britain's youngest dad back in 1998.

He was just 11 when he impregnated his 15-year-old next door neighbour Emma Webster.

Sean was then given the day off school when son Ben Louis was born a month after Sean's 12th birthday.

The couple were neighbours in the village of Sharnbrook, Bedfordshire, when they began a sexual relationship.

It was reported at the time that Sean used to clamber across the roof to meet Emma.

At the time, she told The Sunday Telegraph: "He said he was 12, I'd never have gone out with him if I'd known he was 11."

In the years after, Emma went on to marry another person and moved into a £200,000 home.

Sean continued to attend his local school for a while, but moved away from Bedfordshire in his early teen years.

In the late 2000s, he was jailed for seven months following an allegation of theft, the Daily Mail reports.

Emma, who planned to return to school after the birth, said at the time: "I don't know where Sean is or what he is doing.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore because I don't think it helps Ben."

What does the law say?

The legal age of consent in the UK is 16.

The law is there to protect young people from abuse, harm or being taken advantage of by adults.

It is not designed to criminalise young people and there is no intention to prosecute people under the age of 16 where both mutually agree (consent) and where they are of a similar age.

But children under the age of 13 are considered too young to be able to consent.

Therefore any sexual activity with someone under 13 is illegal and considered rape, sexual abuse or assault.

For more information, visit Brook.

Children aged 13-15 are therefore unlikely to be prosecuted as long as there isn't a large age difference between partners and sex is consensual.

Hid baby bump

Kathleen Moss was just 12 years old when she had her daughter Georgia, in 1998.

It was revealed the youngster had sex with a 14-year-old family friend while on holiday at a Butlin's park in Pwllheli, north Wales.

At the time, Kathleen, from Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester, told the Daily Mail it happened because they were "bored".

She added: "I didn’t realise I was pregnant until after about four or five months when my tummy started to get bigger, because I was still having periods.

"I was terrified and just went into denial. I thought that if I ignored it, it would just go away."

Kathleen wore baggy clothes to hide her growing bump but eventually her family's suspicion grew.

A pregnancy test confirmed she was expecting and, in June 1998, she gave birth to Georgia.

Kathleen said: "I regret falling pregnant so young, but how could I ever regret having Georgia? I can’t imagine life without her.

"Even though I was only 12, the minute she was put in my arms I just felt overwhelmed with love for her."

In 2011, when Georgia turned 12, Kathleen spoke to the Daily Mail and revealed her daughter, thankfully, had no interest in boys at that stage.

Instead, she said her child was focused on going to college and studying to become a vet.

Kathleen added: "When I look at her (Georgia), I find it hard to believe that at her age I was already a mother. She seems so young.

"I had to grow up overnight, but I’m proud that Georgia can still be a child and I’m very protective of her innocence,’ says Kathleen."

Kathleen and Georgia have kept a low profile since.

Clueless until labour

Young mum Charlotte Maddox didn't even realise she was pregnant until she went into labour at 13 years old.

Previously, the teen dismissed stomach pains as a tummy bug after being impregnated by a 15-year-old boy.

She also put weight gain down to overeating and her parents didn't notice anything unusual.

In 2006, she was shocked when she went into labour.

"I was screaming in pain and shouted: 'I've got to push something, it's coming!'" Charlotte told The Mirror.

"That was the first time I realised I was pregnant and about to become a mum."

She also revealed her shock over seeing her life transformed in a matter of hours from worrying about homework to raising a child.

"I kept thinking, 'This can't be true, this isn't real,'" Charlotte said.

"I can't do long division but I can make a little person. It doesn't seem right at my age."

Charlotte has also remained out of the public eye since giving birth.

World's youngest mum was five

The youngest mother ever recorded in the world is Lina Medina, a Peruvian woman who gave birth when she was five years old in 1939.

Medina, who is now 89, had a condition called "precocious puberty" which causes puberty to begin before the typical range. Any age under eight is considered "precocious".

The identity of the father has never been revealed.

Her dad was arrested on suspicion of incest but was released due to a lack of evidence.

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In the UK, similarly aged teenage couples under the age of 16 – the legal age of consent – are unlikely to be prosecuted if they have consensual sex.

But all sexual activity with children under the age of 13 is illegal.

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