A vile mum who had drunken sex with a stranger as her baby died on a sofa was visited four times by social workers in the weeks before the tragic tot’s death, an inquest heard. Shameless Yvonne Adkins was taking part in a booze-fuelled nine-hour sex romp with lover Omoleye Babatunde Peter as her three-month-old baby lay on a sofa downstairs. Adkins, 32, necked whisky before taking her sex partner, who she had met just one week earlier at a bus stop, upstairs – leaving baby Shanelle on a sofa with her sister.
The baby, who had suffered from reflux and vomiting since birth, was found lifeless the following morning wearing only a tiny tracksuit and no blanket or bed clothes. Paramedics were called to property in Meir, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs., who found the baby unresponsive and performed CPR.
She was rushed to Royal Stoke University Hospital but despite the efforts of doctors she was pronounced dead at 8.05am. Today an inquest heard how Adkins – who has six children with four different men – showed “no emotion” as paramedics battled to save the child’s life.
It also emerged social workers had visited her several times in the weeks leading up to the tot’s death after receiving an anonymous tip-off by a concerned neighbour. Sylvia Coleman, from Stoke-on-Trent City Council, visited the family after concerns were raised about Adkins allowing her sister with learning difficulties to care for the children.
Giving evidence, she said:
“I thought maybe she needed some support. She said her sister hadn’t been caring for the children but took her two eldest on the bus to visit their granddad. I told her she couldn’t do this and she was very cooperative. When I found out Shanelle had died I was totally shocked and I came to the hospital”.
“Yvonne told me she had fed Shanelle at 5am that morning and fell asleep. When she woke up she said Shanelle wasn’t breathing. She later told me this wasn’t true and she hadn’t fed her. I interviewed her nine-year-old son with the police the following day”.
“He told us he woke up and Shanelle was on the sofa with his sister and that when she woke up the baby wasn’t breathing. She was co-sleeping with her and he said he could see a blanket was partly on Shanelle’s face. He said the baby had been sleeping in a chair and his sister took her out because she was crying.”
Adkins had been called to attend the hearing to give evidence but claimed she had not been aware it was happening and did not wish to attend a hearing at a future date. North Staffordshire Coroner’s Court was told she originally lied to authorities and claimed the child had been sleeping in a Moses basket at the end of her bed.
The inquest also heard how Adkins refused to sit with her little girl in the back of the ambulance as it rushed her to hospital. Francine White, a paramedic with West Midlands Ambulance Service, told the court:
“Parents usually want to travel in the back of the ambulance to be with their child but she said she didn’t want to. She didn’t want to see her baby. She was on the telephone for 95 per cent of the journey which lasted about 10 minutes”.
“She was talking to family and I found what she was saying very odd. I’m a mother and it wouldn’t have been what I would have said if I was in that situation. I overheard her say: ‘I think she’s passed away’. It was very matter of fact. There was no emotion. The most unusual comments were about how this sort of this sort of thing could happen to babies and how they pull blankets over their heads”.
“Her behaviour was very planned and prepared. I would have shown a lot more emotion. When we got to the hospital she refused to see her baby. I was trying to coax her but as she walked through the foyer she started to cry and she dropped in a heap on the floor.”
Paediatric Pathologist Dr Roger Malcomson said he had recorded an “unascertained” cause of death as “sudden unexpected death in infancy”. He told the court:
“There is no useful evidence to suggest the child had been deliberately smothered. I can’t exclude co-sleeping, asphyxia, or cardiac complications as having been a factor in Shanelle’s death but there is no compelling evidence of this. Because she was small for her age that would have increased the risk of her being a victim of sudden unexpected death.”
The inquest also heard that in the weeks leading up to her death she had several “episodes” in which her lips turned blue after drinking milk and vomiting. She had been prescribed anti-reflux medication but this had not alleviated the problem and had been due to see a consultant the following month.
Earlier this year, Adkins pleaded guilty to cruelty of a child at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court and was given an 18-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.