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
sisier.
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
