unsolved-murders.co.uk
Unsolved Murders
Tags

Baby

Age: 0

Sex: female

Date: 23 Mar 1910

Place: Belper

The body of a female child was found in a plantation at Belper.

The body was found by a platelayer that had been working on the railway near the plantation when he had gone in to fetch some sticks. He said that when he did so he saw a brown paper parcel lying near an elder bush under a wall about seven feet from the Matlock Road and 28 yards from the railway line which bounded the plantation.

The inquest heard that it was thought that it could have been thrown in there from the road.

The parcel was wet when found and was thought to have been there for a lengthy period. The body was wrapped up in a greyish blanket and then the brown paper and had been tied up with string. It was noted that part of the binding was loose, indicating that it had been thrown and had caught something before it had reached the ground.

It was noted that the plantation was private ground from which the public were prohibited.

When the doctor examined the child he said that it was fully developed and in all probability had been born between six weeks and two months before but added that from its decomposed state that he was unable to state whether the child had had a separate existence.

An open verdict of 'found dead' was returned.

see www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

see Ripley and Heanor News and Ilkeston Division Free Press - Friday 25 March 1910