Police investigating whether birth of baby whose remains were found in loft of house was 'concealed'
14.09.2023 - 17:59
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Police are investigating whether the birth of a baby whose remains were found in the loft of a house may have been 'concealed', the Manchester Evening News understands.
On Wednesday (September 13), the M.E.N. revealed the skeletal remains of the unidentified child were found in a semi-detached property in Heaton Mersey, in Stockport. The unidentified infant was found in the attic of a semi-detached property on Berwick Avenue in Heaton Mersey, Stockport.
A police investigation, including DNA analysis of the remains, failed to ascertain the precise time of death and nor the cause. However, it has revealed it could have happened as long ago as 1959.
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The M.E.N. understands the police investigation is examining whether there was a 'concealment of birth'. Investigators have struggled to understand whether the infant was born or still born, it is understood.
The M.E.N. has asked GMP to clarify whether or not the death is being treated as suspicious.
Brief details of the grim discovery - which was made on March 6 last year - emerged as an inquest was formally opened into the death at Stockport Coroners' Court on Wednesday morning. Police coroners' officer Claire Smith told senior coroner Alison Mutch the identity of the baby had not yet been established, although DNA analysis of the 'skeletal remains' had revealed they belonged to a male infant.
Asked about the age of the baby at the time of death, Ms Smith agreed with the coroner that the remains belonged to an infant, but said she 'cannot be more precise than that'.
The coroners' officer also agreed that the time of death was 'unascertained, broadly speaking'. The hearing was told