1:00pm Monday 17th November 2008
By Miranda Newey
A THREE-WEEK-OLD, ‘much-loved baby’ died from cot death, an inquest heard on Friday.
Warrington Coroner’s Court heard how Billy Joe Barnes died unexpectedly on January 6, just weeks after he was born on Boxing Day last year, weighing 7lbs 9oz.
The inquest, held last Friday, heard how the baby’s parents, David Barnes and Tracy Alman returned from visiting Mr Barnes’ brother with Billy Joe at 10.30pm on January 5.
Baby Billy Joe woke in the night and was attended to by his mum.
In the morning at around 10am Mr Barnes and Ms Alman woke and realised that Billy Joe was very quiet.
Ms Alman said: “I looked into the crib and his face was in the mattress. He used to put his hands at the side so he could turn – he was in the same position that I had left him.”
Janet Napier, deputy coroner for Cheshire, said the couple recalled Billy Joe being a blue colour with his eyes closed.
Mr Barnes said: “I couldn’t believe it. We were panicking trying to bring him round. It seemed like it was five days before the ambulance arrived.
“I ended up running across the field. It happens to other people, It doesn’t happen to you does it?”
Staff at Warrington Hospital confirmed that Billy Joe had died.
Sandra Flannery, former midwife, said: “I was the first to visit the day after she (Ms Alman) came home (after the birth of Billy Joe). Things were fine when I arrived, she was breast-feeding.
“She was looking after her baby very well,” she added.
DC Thomas, of Warrington Police’s child protection unit, said checks were made on the couple’s caravan on Dam Lane, in Croft, where they lived and the baby’s nappies and clothes were examined, but there was no suspicious circumstances to investigate.
Dr Rajeev Shukla, a toxicologist at Alder Hey Hospital, in Liverpool, said: “The lungs were very red and heavy – the redness was because there was a bleeding in the lungs. It happens when there is oxygen deprivation.
“This bleeding is more commonly seen in babies like Billy, with older babies it’s usually seen with suffocation.
“I didn’t find any injuries. Cot death was the cause of death.”
Dr Napier said: “He was a much loved baby in a loving family.
“As Mr Barnes said it was unbelievable. Nothing could be done.”
The inquest found that Billy Joe died of sudden infant death syndrome.
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