Baby found wrapped in 1910 newspaper was ‘garrotted’ with length of twine

A baby whose remains were found hidden under floorboards wrapped in newspaper from 1910 was strangled to death with a length of twine, an inquest has heard.

The newborn boy’s skeleton was discovered during renovations at a property in Bishop Auckland, County Durham, in July 2024.

Following an inquest at Crook Civic center today, Coroner Crispin Oliver ruled the unknown infant’s death an unlawful killing.

The hearing was told that twine had been found looped three times around the boy’s neck, knotted, then looped again.

Mr Oliver said his conclusion was that the infant, known as Baby Auckland, was garrotted while he was still alive.

He said the most likely explanation was that the ‘person in a position to care for him while he was most vulnerable’ took the decision to end the boy’s life ‘by means of strangulation using twine as a garotte’.

The coroner added: ‘As such, this was homicide.’

Mr Oliver said there was no record of the baby existing.

He said: ‘This is a very sad and singular case.’

Giving his conclusion, he said that Baby Auckland died in or shortly after 1910 ‘having been garrotted with twine’ shortly after his birth, then concealed under the floorboards.

Mr Oliver said: ‘This was a terrible thing to have happened to a defenseless infant.

‘It happened in our community, but it happened over a century ago and it is heart-warming how the public and individuals in this community have stepped up to do the right thing by Baby Auckland.’

The coroner praised the painstaking police investigation, and Durham County Council for organising a funeral, supported by a funeral director who gave their services for free and a memorial firm which provided a headstone.

The baby was wrapped in a newspaper called The Umpire, dating from 1910.

Renovations were being carried out in a second-floor room at the building at Fore Bondgate by owner Peter Moody, who made the discovery under a floorboard.

He told police that the skeletal remains had what looked like a meter of garden twine around the neck.

Records established that the property, used as a cafe at the time, was built in the late 19th century.

Detective Chief Inspector Mel Sutherland, who led the police inquiry, said forensic anthropologist Dr Micol Zuppello worked at the scene and established that the remains were human and male.

Dr Zuppello believed the body, since mummified, was placed face-down.

She judged the remains were that of a baby of 38-40 weeks gestational development.

It was not possible to say if the baby was stillborn.

Home Office pathologist Dr Louise Mulcahy told the inquest she could not ascertain the cause of death.

There was no sign of trauma on the skeletal remains, but there was no soft tissue left to establish if poisoning was a factor.

She confirmed to the coroner that the twine was looped and knotted directly around the baby’s neck, then wrapped in newspaper, rather than the chord being used to tie the wrapping, like a parcel.

That finding led the coroner to judge that the baby had been strangled with the twine.

DNA testing did not reveal any known living relatives, Mr Sutherland said.

The detective said public appeals in the media led to two sisters to come forward believing that they could be related to a servant who worked at the property, but a DNA test did not match.

Mr Oliver asked Mr Sutherland if the twine could have been used to hang a religious artefact around the baby’s neck, or if string could have been used in midwifery practices at the time, but the detective said neither was likely.

The inquest also heard from Dr Brian Tripney, a radio carbon dating expert from Glasgow University, who used a bone sample to establish that the baby was born in a period between the mid-1600s and 1955.

Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Mr Sutherland said the two-year investigation had been frustrating and challenging due to the passage of time.

Without modern sources of evidence such as CCTV or phone records, he said investigators had to think laterally and use different techniques.

He said: ‘It was heart-warming to see how many people gave Baby Auckland the send-off that he got.’

After the funeral in April, Cathy Hunt, Durham County Council’s cabinet member for children and young people’s services, said: ‘Sadly, for reasons we will never know, this little boy was never given the dignified and appropriate burial he deserved, so it was important that he was laid to rest in a way that honoured a life that could have been.’

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