A 33-year-old Birmingham woman who left her toddler to drown at Saundersfoot's Coppet Hall beach last summer has pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Mirlene Stewart, of West Heath, appeared at Swansea Crown Court on Monday following the discovery of the body of Jordan Reid in a rock pool last July, just a few days before the tot's second birthday.

Miss Stewart dramatically collapsed in the dock at the court just as she was set to answer the charge against her.

Once recovered, she changed her plea from not guilty to murder to admitting manslaughter.

The discovery of Jordan's body initially sparked a major land, air and sea search by police and Coastguard units as it had first been thought that there had been an accident at sea.

However, the search was called off when Miss Stewart was arrested at Carmarthen railway station.

The court heard that Miss Stewart had caught a train from Birmingham after complaining she could not cope. She had booked into a bed and breakfast hotel and had then set off for the beach with little Jordan in a buggy.

It was claimed then that Miss Stewart had walked into the sea, leaving the child to be washed up by the incoming tide.

His body was discovered by passers-by in a rock pool at the Wiseman's Bridge end of Coppet Hall beach the following morning. His buggy was also discovered at the Saundersfoot end of the beach.

This discovery shocked the local community, with over 500 people attending a memorial service for the toddler on Saundersfoot harbour five days later.

Miss Stewart's barrister, Miss Elwen Evans QC, told the court that South Birmingham Mental Health Trust had failed to find Miss Stewart a bed in a psychiatric hospital.

Doctors confirmed that she suffered from a mental impairment which diminished her responsibility, but had not had the opportunity to decide exactly what she suffered from.

Judge Mr. Justice Roderick Evans said he would not pass sentence until Miss Stewart's mental health had been assessed. He was willing to make a hospital order under the Mental Health Act, but first psychiatrists would have to agree on the form of Miss Stewart's mental illness and future treatment.

Miss Stewart was remanded to Eastwood Park women's prison, Bristol.