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A cold blooded mum who murdered her toddler so she could go on holiday has lost an appeal to have her sentence reduced.

Chiara Pasic was jailed for 33 years in April 2018 for killing her three-year-old son Denis before her legal team launched an appeal claiming her sentence was too harsh.

The tragic tot was suffocated with a pillow before his heartless single mother, 33, dumped his body in a harbour in Pula, Croatia - all so she could take a trip to Macedonia.

According to court reports, Pasic showed no emotion as she was sentenced to more than three decades in prison and two years in a psychiatric institution.

A teenage accomplice was also sentenced to three years in a youth detention centre in Pozega in eastern Croatia.

(Image: CEN)

The 15-year-old girl reportedly held a pillow over Denis' face while Pasic stopped him moving his arms and feet.

After discarding the body, the mum reported her son missing to police, claiming she last saw him at a children's park.

Suspicions were raised from the outset, however, before Pasic eventually admitted to the murder within a matter of hours.

(Image: CEN) (Image: CEN)

After questioning, she agreed to show officers where she and her accomplice disposed of the body.

Neighbours had since claimed they often heard the young boy crying, reports The Sun .

They considered reporting it to the authorities but they did not want to "interfere" in family relations.

(Image: CEN)

A neighbour told the newspaper: "The boy was crying so much that once the woman who lives in the flat below almost called the police, but she gave up on the idea.

"Once another neighbour bought him a toy and he hugged her so tight, holding her leg and didn’t want to let her go.

"He was a very sweet boy."

The toddler lived with his mum and it is understood his dad is in prison in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia said Pasic showed such planning, persistence and ruthlessness in committing the murder her sentence was justified, according to reports.

The country's highest court dismissed the defendant's appeal as unfounded and reportedly upheld the second-instance judgment, thereby confirming her 33-year sentence.

Local media said that she is unable to appeal against the judgment of the Supreme Court of the Republic of Croatia.