Nurse whose baby died after she left him alone jailed

Ruth Auta had tried to flee the country ahead of her sentencing, Bolton Crown Court heard

A nurse whose 10-week-old baby died after she left him home alone to go to work has been jailed.

Ruth Auta, 28, left her son Joshua Akerele at her nurses' accommodation at the Royal Bolton Hospital shortly after 06:30 GMT on 20 December 2022, returning over eight hours later.

She called an ambulance at 15:24, reporting her son was not breathing. He was pronounced dead at 16:40, despite attempts to resuscitate him.

Auta, who tried to flee the country after pleading guilty to child cruelty at an earlier court hearing, was jailed for three years at Bolton Crown Court on Tuesday.

'Terrible decision'

No conclusive cause of death could be given for Joshua, with the court hearing that he was a healthy baby.

The court heard he may have overheated due to the layers of clothing and bedding he was wrapped in, but other potential causes of death could not be ruled out.

Auta, of no fixed abode, initially told officers from Greater Manchester Police she had collected Joshua from a childminder after she had finished work on 20 December, claiming she had fallen asleep next to him and that she had found him unresponsive when she woke up.

CCTV footage obtained by police, however, showed Auta leaving her flat without Joshua at 06:47 and returning home alone at 15:13.

Messages found on her phone showed she had asked the childminder to tell the police she had looked after Joshua that day but the childminder told officers she had not seen the baby for a few days.

Auta was charged with cruelty to a child and pleaded guilty at a hearing at Manchester Magistrates' Court on 24 May.

The case was adjourned to 21 June for sentence but Auta was arrested at Gatwick Airport on 6 June after trying to board a flight to Nigeria on a one-way ticket.

Sara Davie, from the Crown Prosecution Service, 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."

Ms Davie said that, as a nurse, Auta should have known the dangers of leaving her baby unattended and "must now live with the consequences of the terrible decision she made that day".

She said Auta had failed to show remorse throughout the case, as well as misleading police about her childcare arrangements and then trying 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," Ms Davie added.