A British woman has admitted to killing her toddler following "a domestic crime in a private home" in Finland, police have said in a statement.

Officers were called to a home in Espoo, 11 miles west of Helsinki, on Sunday where they found the deceased child.

Finnish police said the child's mother admitted to killing the toddler, who was believed to be two-years-old but whose gender is not known, and was arrested.

The woman, who is believed to be 35 years old, appeared in Western Uusimaa District Court on Wednesday, with local media reporting she was in a wheelchair.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) said: "We are in contact with the Finnish authorities following the death of a Canadian-British child in Finland.


"Our staff are providing consular support and are in contact with the Canadian government."

Local media reported the family had returned to Finland last January and had also lived in the UK, Canada and China.

Police said they were "treating the matter as a murder" but provided no further information.

"Due to legislation restricting the publicity of pre-trial material, we will not be able to provide more detailed information at this stage," said crime commissioner Ilmari Hallamaa.

The case will next be heard in court on 17 April.