A Nigerian nurse, Ruth Auta, has been sentenced to three years in prison in the United Kingdom after leaving her 10-week-old baby home alone while she went to work.
The incident, which took place in December 2022, led to the tragic death of her infant son, Joshua Akerele.
Auta, aged 28, was a nurse at the Royal Bolton Hospital. On the morning of December 20, 2022, she left her son Joshua unattended in her nurses’ accommodation.
It was around 06:30 GMT when she left for work, leaving her newborn behind in the flat.
She returned more than eight hours later, after which she discovered that her son was unresponsive.
Auta immediately called for an ambulance at 15:24 GMT, telling emergency services that her baby was not breathing.
Despite the best efforts of the paramedics and doctors, Joshua was pronounced dead at 16:40 GMT that same day.
At the court hearing, it was revealed that there was no definitive cause of death for baby Joshua. He had been a healthy child, and doctors could not point to a single reason for his passing.
The court heard that Joshua might have overheated due to the layers of clothing and blankets he had been wrapped in while Auta was at work.
However, other potential causes of death could not be completely ruled out.
The fact that Auta left her son without supervision for such a long period raised serious concerns during the investigation and trial.
As a trained nurse, the court argued that she should have known better about the risks of leaving a vulnerable infant unattended for hours.
Initially, Auta misled the authorities. When questioned by Greater Manchester Police, she claimed that she had collected Joshua from a childminder after work.
According to her story, she had then fallen asleep beside her baby and only discovered he was unresponsive when she woke up.
However, the truth soon came to light. Investigators obtained CCTV footage showing Auta leaving her flat without Joshua early that morning, at 06:47 GMT, and returning home alone at 15:13 GMT.
This clearly contradicted her claims that she had picked up her baby from the childminder after work.
Further investigation revealed even more troubling details. Auta had sent messages to the childminder, asking her to lie to the police by claiming that she had looked after Joshua that day.
But the childminder, who had not seen Joshua for several days, refused to go along with the deceit and reported the truth to the police.
As the investigation progressed, Auta’s behaviour became more suspicious.
After pleading guilty to child cruelty charges at an earlier court hearing on 24 May 2023, Auta attempted to flee the country.
On June 6, she was arrested at Gatwick Airport while trying to board a flight to Nigeria with a one-way ticket. Her attempt to escape justice only worsened her situation in court.
Auta was charged with cruelty to a child, and after initially pleading guilty, she appeared at Bolton Crown Court for her sentencing on Tuesday. The court sentenced her to three years in prison.
Sara Davie, a representative from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), played a key role in the prosecution. During the trial, Ms. Davie highlighted the gravity of Auta’s actions.
“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,” Davie said.
As a nurse, Auta should have understood the serious dangers of leaving an infant alone for hours. The fact that she took this risk with her own child was deeply concerning for the court and the authorities involved.
In her statement, Ms. Davie also pointed out that Auta showed no remorse throughout the case. She said that not only did Auta try to deceive the police about her childcare arrangements, but she also went to great lengths to avoid justice by attempting to flee the country.
“The consequences of her terrible decision that day will stay with her forever,” Davie said.
