A newborn baby girl has been found dead in the toilets of a pub in West Yorkshire, police have said. Officers have appealed for the baby’s mother to contact them or seek medical help and stressed that her welfare and safety is a priority.
If the mother does not want to talk to police then she should consider talking to health staff, a senior officer said on Monday.
West Yorkshire police said emergency services attended the Three Horse Shoes pub in Oulton, Leeds, at 4.45pm on Sunday afternoon. Paramedics confirmed that the baby was dead.
Det Ch Insp James Entwistle, of West Yorkshire police, said it was a tragic incident and a full investigation had been launched.
He said: “We are urgently appealing for the mother of the baby girl to contact us or seek medical help as she has been through an extremely traumatic ordeal and could well need treatment herself.
“If the mother is comfortable speaking to the police then she can do so by calling 101 or she can use LiveChat online to talk to us remotely at www.westyorkshire.police.uk/livechat. If she doesn’t want to speak to the police, she can contact the Leeds maternity assessment unit on 0113 3926731.
“Our enquiries into the incident remain ongoing today with NHS partners but our main priority remains the mother’s welfare and safety.”
On Facebook, the owners of the pub made reference to the incident and thanked everyone who had helped. The post said: “I’ve been writing post after post for the past hour but I don’t think right now is the best time given the circumstances …
“We’re sure there’s speculation of something that happened at our establishment this evening. All I can say at the minute is I’m sorry to everyone that was in with us during the time this happened and to all that was due to come in and couldn’t.
“A massive thank you to those that helped us whilst we were struggling as a team, it really doesn’t go unappreciated. Lots of love, Team Three Horse Shoes.”
