Baby

The body of a baby was found in a sack in Oak Edge Pool, Shugborough on 4 July 1963.

The inquest held in Stafford returned a verdict of Murder by a person or persons unknown.

The police said that they had made extensive inquiries but had failed to trace the mother of the baby.

A gamekeeper on Lord Lichfield's estate discovered the sack whilst he was cleaning the pool, which was in a fenced off part of Cannock Chase. However, it was noted that access to it from the beauty spot would have been easy.

 A police sergeant said that the head of the newly-born child had been covered with a blanket and tied with a silk stocking and then wrapped in a plastic bag.

He said that he didn't think that the child had been in the sack for more than a couple of days.

The pathologist that carried out the post mortem said that the child had not been more than 24 hours old and that its death was caused by asphyxia, noting that the child had not drowned.

He added that it seemed likely that the blanket had suffocated the child because there was no trace of any manual suffocation.

The Coroner said that it was possible that the mother of the child and the person that killed it might have been one and the same person, and that if found, then the police could take action.

Stafford Police appealed for anyone with information that could help with their investigation to go to their nearest police station, it being noted that information would be treated in the strictest confidence.