Baby’s Body in Paper Bag Discovered by Schoolboys

By Angela Gooch on February 9th, 2008

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9th, 1935
GRUESOME DISCOVERY BY SCHOOLBOYS
Body Of Unknown Child Found Wrapped In Brown Paper Parcel
SIGNIFICANT MARKS ON NECK
Doctor’s Suggestion Of Death By Strangling

INQUEST ADJOURNED

The suggestion that an unknown baby boy, whose partially decomposed body was found wrapped in a brown paper parcel on the Skegness sandhills last Thursday morning, had been murdered by strangulation was made at an inquest held at the Skegness Police Court on the following day.

The gruesome discovery which led to the inquest was made by two Skegness schoolboys who were playing, with a number of other boys, on the sand dunes between Franklin and Ocean Avenues.

This is the third case of this shocking nature which has come to light in the resort during the past two years. A similar suggestion of death by strangulation was made when the body of a newly-born child was found under similar circumstances in the bushes alongside Gibraltar Road last July; and a further body was found at an earlier date by a Skegness man on the sand- hills at a spot not many yards removed from that at which this latest discovery was made.

At last Friday’s inquest, Dr. Menzies expressed the opinion that the child had been strangled, and the Coroner adjourned the inquest for two months to enable the police to pursue their investigations.
The inquest was conducted by Dr. F. J. Walker, J.P., sitting without a jury, Supt. Ackrill and Insp. Harvey, of the Skegness Division Police Force, being in attendance.

OPENED PARCEL WITH SPADE

John Joseph Waite, a schoolboy, of 47, Drummond Road, Skegness, said he and other boys were playing on the and dunes between Franklin and Ocean Avenues on the previous morning about 11-30. On climbing over a low wall in front of some houses he and another boy found a brown paper parcel. They opened it with a spade and found a baby inside it. They put it back.

The Coroner: Was the parcel lying in the open?—No, it was under some bushes but it was not buried.
The witness said he and his mother visited the police station, and he went back to the spot with two police officers and showed them where the parcel was.

FEW BLOODSTAINS

Police-Sergt. Falgate said he went to the sand dunes in company with Insp. Harvey. The boy pointed to the parcel at the side of a low wall. The parcel came open easily and contained the body of a newly-born male child, which he conveyed to the Council mortuary.

There were no marks or writing on the sheet of plain brown paper to assist identification. There were a few bloodstains on the body. The paper was not really wet, but damp. Nothing had been discovered which indicated how the child came there. The parcel had not been tied up.

MARKS ROUND NECK

Dr. D. F. Menzies said he conducted a postmortem examination on the baby, which was a full-time male child weighing 9 3/4 lbs. The length of its body was 21 inches. The body had not been washed since birth. Two long marks encircled the neck with a swollen fold of skin between the two ridges. There were excoriations and distinct abrasions around the neck which had been made during life. The child had breathed, but had had no food. There were signs of early decomposition.

The Coroner: What, in your opinion, was the cause of death?—Asphyxia.
And how do you consider that was brought about?—By something being wrapped round the neck of the child.
How long do you think it lived?—Not more than one or two days.

The Coroner, after a few minutes thought that in view of the medical evidence he considered it his duty to give the police all the facilities lie possibly could to try and find out who was the mother of this child. He should therefore take the inquiry no further that day, but adjourn it until March 8th next.

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[This follow-up article appeared in the Skegness News two months later...]

STRANGLED CHILD REMAINS UNIDENTIFIED

POLICE INVESTIGATIONS FRUITLESS
OPEN VERDICT RETURNED AT ADJOURNED INQUEST

Despite exhaustive investigations extending over a period of two months, the efforts of the Skegness Police to establish the identity of a newly-born male child, whose body, bearing marks suggesting strangulation, was found on the Skegness sandhills on January 4th, have so far proved fruitless.
This was revealed when the adjourned inquest on the body was held by the District Coroner, Dr. F. J. Walker, J.P., at the Skegness Petty Sessional Courthouse last Friday morning.
When the inquest was opened on January 5th, it was revealed that the body, wrapped in a brown paper parcel, was found by two schoolboys while playing on the sand dunes between the end of Franklin and Ocean Avenues, Seacroft.
A Skegness medical man, who conducted the post-mortem examination, gave evidence on that occasion that there were excoriations and abrasions around the neck which had been made during life, and that he considered that death from asphyxia had been brought about by something being wrapped around the child’s neck.
At last week’s adjourned inquest, Insp. Harvey said that the local police had made extensive inquiries, but had failed to establish identification.
The Coroner briefly reviewed the evidence given at the earlier inquiry, which has been summarised above, and returned an open verdict that the child had died from asphyxia, caused by something being tied round its neck.