Two month old baby boy dies after parents lock him in garden shed as they 'needed a break'

14.12.2022 - 00:41 / dailyrecord.co.uk

A two-month-old baby died after being shut away in a shed by his parents during lockdown, a hearing was told. The tot was put in the outhouse by his mum and dad after they 'needed a break' from looking after him.

However, his carrycot then tipped off a cardboard box head first, causing him to suffocate. Addressing a private family court hearing in Liverpool, Judge Steven Parker said the couple had been arguing as they had a lack of “sleep and intimacy”.

Feeling like the house was “overcrowded”, the pair then put the little boy in the shed in June 2020. As reported by the Mirror, Judge Parker said: “In haste or recklessly, the carrycot was placed by mother and/or father on an inappropriate and insecure cardboard box in the shed.

"The cot tipped head first off the upper surface of the box which caused (the baby) to move on his left side/shoulder and his face was pressed up against the carrycot side with his head in an unnatural and unusual position. This compromised his breathing or ventilation and led to his death from hypoxia and hypercarbia."

The youngster’s parents called 999 and said he had been found lifeless in his cot in their bedroom. They later described his death as a tragic case of sudden unexplained death. However, Judge Parker ruled that the couple had "failed to adequately supervise" their baby son.

He said: “At the time (he) died there was tension in the mother and father's relationship caused by living ... in overcrowded circumstances and during lockdown, lack of sleep and intimacy and poor mental health on the father's behalf. These matters led to poor communication and arguments between the mother and father, and reached the point where parents were not coping well and needed a break from caring for (the