Nurse who confessed to strangling EIGHT of her babies 'because she did not want to use contraception' to stand trial for murder in France Dominique Cottrez admitted France's worst ever infanticide case in 2010 Now 50, she killed babies from 1989 to 2000 and hid them in bin liners Homeowners in Villiers-sur-Tertre, France, found bones in their garden Cottrez unsuccessfully tried to escape charges as crimes were historic French law says crimes must normally have happened in last 10 years She will stand trial next year for willful killing of eight minors under 15 By Ian Sparks for MailOnline A nursing assistant who strangled and buried eight of her newborn babies will be tried in France four years after she admitted the country's worst ever infanticide case. Dominique Cottrez, 50, is said to have killed the children and hid their bodies in bin liners between 1989 and 2000 because she did not want to use contraception. After her confession in 2010, she tried to escape the charges by claiming the crimes all took place more than ten years earlier - which under French law means a prosecution cannot be brought. Standing trial: Dominique Cottrez (pictured) killed eight of her newborn babies between 1989 and 2000 Macabre: An excavator combed the garden of Cottrez' house, where two babies' remains were found in 2010 But today a court ruled she must stand trial, because hiding the bodies meant it was impossible to know a crime had been committed within the time limit. The first macabre discoveries were made four years ago when the new owners of a house in the village of Villiers-sur-Tertre, northern France, found human bones in their garden while digging a pond. They alerted police, who found the remains of two children which had been there since the Cottrez family moved out in 1991. After tracking Dominique and husband Pierre-Marie Cottrez to another house just half a mile away, they found the bodies of six more children buried in the garden in black bin liners. Doting: One of the surviving children of Cottrez (pictured) defended her after her 2010 arrest Defence lawyer Marie-Helene Carlier told a court this week: 'My client readily admits the horror of what she has done but believes that legally the time for punishment has passed.' But France's Court of Cassation rejected the claim, and ruled that Cottrez must stand trial next year for the wilful killing of eight minors under 15 between 1987 and 2000. Public prosecutor Eric Vaillant told an initial court hearing in 2010 how Cottrez, who was obese, had managed to hide her pregnancies within her 20-stone frame. 'She managed to hide the fact she was pregnant because she was very overweight,' he said. She told investigators that when she became aware she was pregnant she decided she did not want any more children but also did not want to see a doctor for contraception. She has admitted giving birth in secret and then suffocating the babies and disposing of the bodies. Husband Pierre-Marie Cottrez, 48, has denied knowing about the babies being born or killed. The couple have two surviving daughters, Virginie, 22, and Emeline, 23 - who have one son each. Emeline described her mother as a 'doting granny' to her child. She said after the crimes were discovered: 'It's incomprehensible that our mother could have done this. She was a good, loving grandmother, and we were happy to leave our children with her. Grim: The second house where six more corpses were discovered. The case is thought to be France's worst Tributes: Candles were laid in front of the house where the newborns' remains were found in northern France The tragedy is not the first such case in France. In March 2010 French mother Celine Lesage, 38, was jailed for 15 years after admitting to killing six of her new-born babies and hiding the bodies in her cellar. In 2009, Veronique Courjault was sentenced to eight years in jail after admitting to killing three of her own babies, burning one corpse and hiding the others in the family freezer.