Baby boy found in suitcase died before 1955, inquest hears

The baby boy's remains were found at an address in Heaton Mersey

The remains of a baby boy were found inside a suitcase at a home wrapped in layers of newspaper dating back to the 1940s, an inquest has heard.

The baby's existence had been kept "a secret within the family" for years at the house in Stockport, Greater Manchester, the hearing was told.

It came as a "total shock and surprise" to extended family members who opened the case, found in a bedroom "hatch".

Coroner Christopher Morris recorded an open verdict.

He said it was "not possible" to determine how the boy had died.

The remains were found at the home on Berwick Avenue in the Heaton Mersey area on 6 March 2022, and police said there was no evidence of "direct criminality".

Mr Morris said there had been an "extensive and detailed" investigation by Greater Manchester Police after the discovery and that "very sadly" the baby remains unidentified.

He said the suitcase contained various other items ranging from magazines to hair products and school work.

Also inside were the names of two female members of the family who would have been of childbearing age at the time the baby is thought to have died, as well as a photograph of one of the women.

The inquest heard how the case had been cleared out of the house by surveyors after the occupant's death and had been handed over to extended family members, who prized it open with a screwdriver believing there would be documents inside.

Instead, they found the baby's remains - wrapped in several layers of cloth and then newspapers dating to between 1943 and 1959.

Senior police coroners officer Rita Wilkinson told the hearing at South Manchester Coroners Court that there was no evidence of criminality, at least not by any living family member, and no third party involvement.

The incident came to light in a hearing at South Manchester Coroner's Court

She said the house had been home to several members of a family since at least the 1940s, with the last occupant, a man, having died in 2021.

The existence of the baby had been kept "a secret within the family", she said.

Written evidence from forensic pathologists said it was not possible to determine whether the baby had been born alive.

Their analysis also indicated the baby was no older than about five weeks.

Evidence from carbon dating experts confirmed the baby had died before 1955.

The coroner said "circumstantial evidence" was gleaned from various items in the suitcase from the 1940s and 1950s, but there was "nothing sufficient in that to allow me to reliably conclude any more about the date of death than that".

He added: "For understandable reasons in light of the degree of mummification, pathologists have been unable to confirm a cause of death."

Mrs Wilkinson said police had since closed the case having "exhausted all inquiries" and that anyone who would have been able to give evidence had died.

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