Newborn baby found dead at waste recycling plant

 A newborn baby boy was discovered by a horrified worker in Shipley, West Yorkshire
when he was separating waste including glass and paper.

  The recycling plant worker, Gary Normington described the incident to the inquest...'I took a second look and then saw what I thought was a head. I shouted to stop and a colleague pulled the cord to stop the conveyor belt. I said something like "It's a baby." I heard someone say "Is it". I then started to feel sick.

'I went to sit on the stair well. I then saw the site managers. I said "are you sure?" I said "yes." I knew it was obviously human when I saw its head and eyes.'

He added: 'That image will stay with me for a long time.'


The baby is thought to have been born four weeks premature, doctors believe he had been dead for a few days before he was discovered.
Police sent leaflets to 35,000 local households in a bid to trace the mother.
Second baby was found at the same Associated Waste Management plant 18 months earlier, inquest told


Jim Harrison of West Yorkshire Police said officers made contact with the local health authorities in West Yorkshire which included Leeds, Wakefield, Bradford, Calderdale and Keighley.

Various people came forward saying they had seen pregnant women on their street who they had not seen in recent months.

He added: 'As we suspected the child was prematurely born or close to full time, we deemed it was likely that we would potentially, from inquiries, be able to find females that the local authority had concern for or were in the midwifery department - females pregnant but disengaged or had given birth and had not further contact with.'

'Once we had established where all the refuse was collected, from analysts we were able to establish every single property that had rubbish collected that day.

'Fifteen females come into the enquiry and we were able to eliminate every single one as having a non -pregnancy or having given birth to a healthy child.'

DS Harrison told the inquest that DNA tests were carried out to find links to the baby's parents - however only a partial profile was found.

The DNA results were run through local West and North Yorkshire databases and the investigation will remain open in the hope that someone will come forward.

Coroner Oliver Longstaff recorded an open verdict saying: 'The basis of the evidence shows that the death appeared to have occurred at least a few days before the baby was found. Where the baby died we do not know. One of the things I have to determine if I can is whether the baby was a still birth or live.

'On the balance of probability it is my cautious view that it is slightly more likely that this baby was born alive than dead.

'The cause of death remains undetermined because of the state the body was in when it was found.'


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