Tragic death of Bolton baby left home alone for 8 hours

Joshua Akerele died on December 20, 2022 after being left alone for eight hours.

His mother, Ruth Auta, arrived home at around 3.15pm. Emergency services were called shortly afterwards after the baby was found unresponsive. 

He had suffered an asystolic cardiac arrest, a condition in which the heart stops beating. 

Despite attempts to resuscitate him in the ambulance, Joshua could not be saved and was pronounced dead at 4.40pm.

Joshua was taken to hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

No conclusive cause of death was given.

Auta appeared at Bolton Crown Court to be sentenced for the neglect of her son.

The court heard how she had undertaken three years of nursing training in her native Nigeria before emigrating to the UK in order to train with the NHS. 

Prosecuting, Vanessa Thomson said: "When she came to UK to complete her training, she did not disclose that she was pregnant. 

"She would not have been permitted to work on hospital wards had she done so." 

Auta gave birth to Joshua on October 22, 2022, going into labour in the middle of a shift at Royal Bolton Hospital. 

The court  heard that he had been a "healthy" baby. 

On December 20 the same year, CCTV footage showed her leaving her flat at 6.37am before returning to the property at around 3.15pm, both on her own.  An ambulance was called just minutes after.

Ms Thomson said: "CCTV footage checks showed that nobody had entered her flat throughout the day. 

"The previous days mainly showed her entering and leaving with a pram." 

At 3.24pm paramedics and police were called to the collapse of an infant at Lincoln House in Nelson Street, Bolton.

Auta met paramedics at the entrance to the building, holding Joshua. He was then transferred to hospital but pronounced dead on arrival. 

She told police that she had "returned home from work, fed him and laid him on her bed" before he went to sleep. 

Ms Thomson said: "The defendant claimed she had collected Joshua from a carer when she left work and taken him back home." 

She also claimed that she had wrapped him in multiple layers of clothing which caused him to sweat. Analysis at the scene found an area of her bed saturated with sweat. 

However, text messages on Auta's phone showed contact with a child carer who she had employed to look after Joshua. 

The messages, which were sent after his death, said: "I lost Joshua, I don't want you to panic, police are coming to you for questions. 

"I told them he stayed with you this morning." 

A further message said: "I am not a bad person, but I am concerned of the UK Government. Just help me out. 

"I was too scared to ring an ambulance."

The contact responded that she could not help her. When interviewed by police, she told them she had not taken care of Joshua that day. 

A post-mortem report said that there were "so many unknown variables" that it was not possible to ascertain what had caused Joshua's death. 

Ruth Auta (Image: GMP)

Auta had no previous convictions and pleaded guilty to the charge of neglect. 

The court heard on June 6 this year, Auta was arrested at Gatwick Airport whilst attempting to board a flight to Nigeria. She had purchased a one-way ticket. 

Defending, Ellie Akhgar said: "Ms Auta has been homeless during this period, she has been helped with various accommodations from various agencies. 

"She was sectioned for a period of 14 days in hospital, which allowed her to stay for an additional week." 

Since then, she has lived in a succession of Airbnbs, hostels and a guest house. 

A psychiatric report conducted following the death of Joshua found that a period of low mood suffered by Auta suggested she had been suffering postpartum depression. 

The psychiatrist said she described the period after his birth as being "awful", saying she "could not be happy", was "extremely sad" and that she felt "lonely and isolated" and "scared and panicked about things". 

Ms Akhgar added that Auta earned around £1600 a month, with her rent costing £750 and hiring a childminder costing £50 a day. 

She added: "She is aware of her wrongdoing and aware that it crosses the custodial threshold. 

"She will carry the weight of tremendous tragedy for the rest of her life." 

Concluding, Judge Nicholas Clarke KC said: "The defendant left Joshua, who was just over eight weeks old, for a period of over eight hours. "

He added: "He was a newborn baby with no means of support ."

Judge Clarke said: "This eight-week-old baby was entirely reliant on you for his needs, he could not possibly have fended for himself in the over eight hours in which you neglected him. No one was checking on his welfare."

"In my judgement, it is all the more serious because of your professional qualifications.

"You deceived the recruitment agency and the hospital and tried to cover up what you had done, and you tried to deceive the police." 

He sentenced her to three years imprisonment. 

Sara Davie, District Crown Prosecutor for CPS North West said: “Whilst she went to work to provide care for other people, Ruth Auta left the very person who needed her care the most home alone.  

“As a nurse she should have known the dangers of leaving her baby unattended. As she begins her sentence, she must now live with the consequences of the terrible decision she made that day.

“Auta has failed to show remorse throughout the case; she misled police about her childcare arrangements and then tried to evade justice by attempting to flee the country.

“Our thoughts and sympathies are with all those who have been affected by Joshua’s death.”