Inquest into the death of a Balderton one-year-old baby continues at Nottingham City Council

An inquest has opened into the ‘sudden and unexpected’ death of a ‘very vulnerable baby’, who was found unresponsive at his family home.

Kenny-John Elijah Becket-Ward, aged one, was found unresponsive by his mother, Chantelle Beckett, at their home in Balderton on March 7, 2024.

Yesterday (Wednesday, February 20), marked the first day of a scheduled three-day inquest hearing at Nottingham City Council, into the death of a baby, who coroner Elizabeth Didcock said to be “very vulnerable”.

The inquest heard that Kenny was born prematurely at 27 weeks at Lincoln County Hospital on December 14, which led to chronic lung disease and a hole in his heart.

Days after his birth, Kenny was transferred to Nottingham City Hospital’s neonatal unit and was discharged on March 30. He continued doing oxygen therapy at home until August 23, 2023.

On the day prior to his death (March 6), Kenny was put to bed around 7pm by his dad Stefan Ward and he kissed him again at around 10pm the same evening.

Around 3am, Kenny’s mother fed him and went back to sleep.

On March 7, the inquest heard that Chantelle heard Kenny make a noise at around 8am, which she said was normal considering he snored.

Chantelle left to take Kenny’s two siblings to nursery and school before returning at around 9am, when she went to check on him and found him unresponsive.

The dad, who had a restriction order to not remain in the property between midnight and 4am after being in prison, was asleep on a mattress in the living room when he heard Chantelle screaming for his help.

The couple rushed the one-year-old baby to the kitchen and started doing chest compressions, as well as ringing 999.

At around 9.10am on March 7, Nottinghamshire Police was informed by East Midlands Ambulance about a child not breathing and officers arrived about 10 minutes later.

The paramedics raised concerns about how ‘grey, cold and stiff ‘ Kenny was and after resuscitation attempts, he was pronounced dead at the family’s home at 9.28am.

Nottinghamshire Police detective seargent Laura Gooch said that the police had serious concerns about the state of the house as it was cluttered.

Detective Sergeant Gooch described the house as having dirty nappies all over, faeces on the floor, the fridge was “disgusting” and there were dirty pots and food waste and a fly infestation in the kitchen.

In 2023, when Stefan Ward was arrested by Lincolnshire Police, the officers also took photos of the property, and following a comparison of the photos, there had been a deterioration of the house.

Dr Didcock said: “It was a challenging environment, the state of the mattresses, and very poor home conditions, particularly hygiene conditions.

Melanie Butcher, a specialist nurse/midwife child death review and bereavement at Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said she was ‘very shocked when she entered the property’ and said there was an ‘offensive smell’.

She said there was no bedding on beds and that the mattresses were soiled and dirty. She also found out-of-date milk in the fridge.

Michael Biggs, the registered forensic pathologist at Leicester Royal Infirmary classed Kenny’s death as unascertained in his forensic report.

At the time of Kenny’s death, the family was suffering from a virus and on March 5, the baby was described as having a cold and a cough. There was nothing to show, however, this contributed to his death.

The family lived in a ground-floor flat with two bedrooms, the parents slept on a mattress in the living room and there was a room for Kenny and another room for his siblings.

The family’s children were already on Children’s Protection Services prior to Kenny’s death,

From July 2023 until Kenny’s death, the family missed 21 appointments doctor appointments, including 11 since January 2024, which were cancelled or the family failed to attend or walked out.

Registered nurse and specialist healthcare practitioner Kate Robinson, who works at the Balderton Primary Care Centre, where Kenny was registered, was following the baby’s case due to his premature birth.

Mrs Robinson used to visit the family house for planned appointments to register Kenny’s growth and health.

Before his death, Kenny wasn’t walking, crawling or sitting by himself, which raised concerns about delayed development, poor skin conditions and weight loss.

In December 2023, it was registered that his weight was less than in August, which was because the milk he was drinking should have been changed after the first six months.

“At the time of his death, the home conditions were unacceptable and unhygienic and there was no help sought when needed,” said Mrs Robinson.

It was noted that the family avoided professionals prior to Kenny’s death.

“I don’t think I could have done any more than physically pick him up, take him to the hospital and say — look at him,” said Mrs Robinson.

The inquest continues.