A mother jailed for cruelty to five children has given birth again - and her baby has been taken straight into care.

The 27-year-old Brighton woman - who was also cleared of murdering three babies - produced a healthy baby boy, which was handed over to social services.

Because of her criminal record, it is unlikely she will ever be allowed to bring up children. If she has any more, they too will end up in care.

The father of the new baby is thought to be a man she met briefly while she stayed at a bail hostel.

The birth of this, her eighth child, has raised the issue of compulsory sterilisation.

But Des Turner, the Brighton Kemp Town MP who campaigned for a public inquiry into the case, is strongly opposed, saying: "It smacks of authoritarianism and fascism."

Mr Turner said he was "saddened" by the circumstances surrounding the new baby.

He said: "Being taken into care at birth is no way to start a life, and I would hope the mother herself would consider voluntary sterilisation."

The mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was jailed for two-and-a-half years at Lewes Crown Court in May for cruelty. She served only a month after time spent on bail was taken into account.

Her 39-year-old common law husband was jailed for six years for child neglect and for threatening to kill a social worker and raping two sisters.

The couple left their children crawling on wet carpets while they wore soiled nappies and their heads were overrun with lice. The father would put a finger down a baby's throat to stop it crying.

The cruelty lasted five years despite 230 visits by health visitors and a number of checks by social services.

Two of their babies and a baby nephew died while in their care. The mother blamed her husband, saying he smothered them because they were crying.

But the pair were cleared of three counts of murder when the judge at Lewes Crown Court ruled there was insufficient evidence to prove which of the two, if either, carried out the killings.

The case led to our campaign for a change in the law and a public inquiry.

Home Secretary Jack Straw responded by saying he was considering a new law of killing a child by neglect, which would carry a maximum 14-year sentence.

Brighton and Hove Council has agreed to hold an investigation in public. It will focus on why the neglected children were not rescued sooner and whether any of the dead babies could have been saved.