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Baby

Age: 0

Sex: male

Date: 2 Jul 1960

Place: Lady Herberts Gardens, Coventry

The body of a newly-born child was found in Lady Herbert's Gardens on 2 July 1959.

It was found wrapped up in a towel and paper.

The body was initially discovered by a park keeper after which the police were informed.

When a police constable went to look he found that it was wrapped up in a floral pattern towel of pink, blue and green and then in a sheet of clean brown paper and then tied in the middle with a piece of string.

The Home Office pathologist that carried out the post mortem examination said that it could have been killed by the palm of a hand being placed on its face and mouth. He noted that the child's mother would have been capable of doing that.

He noted in his provisional conclusion that he thought that the child would have been capable of having an independent existence.

He said that the child had weighed 5lb 13oz and that there was bruising of the scalp above the eyes.

A detective sergeant said that the Coventry police had made intensive inquiries to trace the people associated with the baby and had had four men on the case ever since the baby was found, but said, 'So far we have traced no one'.

After hearing the evidence the jury returned a verdict of murder by some person or persons unknown.

However, the Coroner noted that the mother, who had never been identified, could have been charged with infanticide despite the jury's verdict.


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

see www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk

see Coventry Evening Telegraph - Thursday 18 August 1960

see Coventry Evening Telegraph - Thursday 07 July 1960