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Baby

Age: 0

Sex: male

Date: 29 Dec 1926

Place: River Tweed, Berwick

The body of a newly-born child was found in the River Tweed.

It had been wrapped up in brown paper and had a wad wedged in its throat.

The parcel was found by a lad from Berwick floating in the river on 29 December 1926.

When the Coroner summed up he told the jury that they could return one of two verdicts:

That the child had been murdered by an unknown person or persons.

That of infanticide.

The Coroner said, 'If you are satisfied that the child was the subject of foul play then return a verdict of murder. Infanticide is the causing of the death of a newly born child by the mother, by a wilful act or omission at the time when she had not fully recovered from the effect of giving birth to the child and by reason thereof the balance of her mind was then disturbed'.

The Coroner then noted that the medical officer had stated that the child had had a separate existence and that the legal ruling was:

'A child is not considered, in law, to be completely born so as to be the subject of either murder or manslaughter, until the whole body of the child is brought alive into the world having an independent circulation and breathing or capable of breathing from its own lungs so that it possesses or is capable of an existence independent of connection with its mother, but the child may be completely born although the umbilical cord be not severed'.

He said that the facts of the case were that the child was born alive, and the medical officer described it as being a full term child. He then suggested the presumption be that the child was able to breath. He noted that if the child had been unable to breath that there would have been no need for a piece of paper to be crammed in its mouth.

The Coroner noted that there was no further evidence to show how the child had got into the river or where it had come from.

The jury then returned a verdict of murder by some person or persons unknown.


*map pointers are rough estimates based on known location details as per Place field above.

see www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

see The Scotsman - Thursday 20 January 1927

see Berwickshire News and General Advertiser - Tuesday 25 January 1927