Wednesday, September 11, 2024 - A UK-based Nigerian nurse who left her ten-week-old baby to die while she went to work at a hospital has been jailed for three years.
Mother, Ruth Auta, 28, abandoned Joshua
Akerele in her nurse's accommodation for eight hours so she could work her
shift on December 20, 2022, Mail Online reports.
When she returned from work, she found her son lifeless in his cot and dialled
999, telling operators her son was not breathing.
The infant was pronounced dead an hour later
with tests showing he may have 'overheated' due to the layers of clothing and
bedding he was wrapped in.
Auta initially told the police that she had collected Joshua from a childminder
after she finished work, took him back home, fed him, placed him on her bed,
and then fell asleep next to him.
She claimed that when she woke up, she found
him unresponsive.
Later in her police interview, Auta gave no
comment to questions asked and was freed on bail pending further investigation.
Auta was charged after police found CCTV of
her leaving and entering her accommodation without Joshua on the day of the
tragedy.
Officers also discovered incriminating texts in which she urged her childminder
to say she was looking after Joshua that day.
The childminder told officers she had not
seen the infant for a number of days.
Auta was charged with cruelty to a child and
pleaded guilty at Manchester Magistrates' court on May 24, 2024, with her case
adjourned by a month for sentence.
On June 6, the nurse who worked at Royal
Bolton Hospital tried to flee the country. But was detained at Gatwick while
attempting to board the flight to her Nigeria, having purchased a one-way
ticket.
Auta was sentenced to three years in jail when she appeared at Bolton
Crown Court on 10 September.
Sara Davie, District Crown Prosecutor for
CPS North West said: 'Whilst she went to work to provide care for other people,
Ruth Auta left the very person who needed her care the most home alone.
'As a nurse, she should have known the
dangers of leaving her baby unattended. As she begins her sentence, she must
now live with the consequences of the terrible decision she made that day.
'Auta has failed to show remorse throughout
the case. She misled police about her childcare arrangements and then tried to
evade justice by attempting to flee the country.
'Our thoughts and sympathies are with all
those who been affected by Joshua's death.'
Prosecutors said she left her nurse's
accommodation shortly after 6.30am to carry out her shift leaving behind her
Joshua.
At 3.24 pm Auta called for an ambulance
reporting that her son was not breathing.
Despite attempts to resuscitate him,
Joshua could not be saved and was pronounced dead at 4.40pm.
An inquest into Joshua's death was opened
and adjourned in Bolton in January this year.
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