UK – A baby girl found dead in a pub is believed to have been stillborn in a ladies toilet cubicle, police said Monday as an officer told the mother: ‘I’m not here to arrest you.’
The body was discovered at the Three Horse Shoes in Oulton near Leeds at 4.45pm Sunday while the pub was said to have been busy with customers for its carvery.
How she was Found
A member of pub staff is understood to have found the baby naked with part of the umbilical cord in place. The girl was later confirmed as deceased by paramedics.
West Yorkshire Police detectives are now urgently searching for the baby’s mother amid concerns for her welfare and urged her to come forward or seek medical help.
Investigation Continues
Officers are studying CCTV in a bid to identify the mother, and forensics specialists worked inside the pub today, which had its doors shut and curtains drawn.
At a press conference in Leeds city centre today, Detective Chief Inspector James Entwistle, from the force’s homicide and major inquiry team, said the information he has points to the baby being stillborn and having been born in the toilet cubicle.
Pleas to the Mother
Addressing the mother directly, he said: ‘From a police perspective I just want to be really clear. I’m not here to arrest you, I’m not here to arrest anyone else.’
Mr Entwistle said the evidence so far suggested the baby’s death was ‘a stillbirth, and a stillbirth that may have taken place within that bathroom cubicle’.
He said: ‘Please, get in touch with us, get in touch with our NHS colleagues and please make sure that we can get you the care you need.
‘All I want to achieve is making sure that this doesn’t happen again to you or to anyone else.
‘I’m here to make sure I understand what’s happened and make sure that you get the medical attention that you need.’
West Yorkshire Police have said an investigation is ongoing and stressed their ‘priority is to ensure the mother’s welfare’.
