Gardaí found baby dead in upstairs toilet

Gardaí found the body of a newborn baby boy in the toilet of a house in Cork City last summer.

The harrowing details emerged at Cork City coroner’s court yesterday as Dr Myra Cullinane opened an inquest into the death of Sean Patrick Magee.

The baby was pronounced dead in the upstairs bathroom of a house in the Deerpark area on Jul 29, 2013. Gardaí immediately launched an investigation into the circumstances of the death.

Det Insp Ger O’Mahony told Dr Cullinane yesterday that the probe is ongoing, and he applied for the inquest to be adjourned pending the completion of the investigation.

Dr Cullinane agreed to mention the case again in June, when Det Insp O’Mahony said there would be more clarity. The inquest then heard evidence of formal identification.

Garda Deirdre Hayes said she and a colleague were on duty on Jul 29 when they got a call at around 4.30pm to go to a house in the Deerpark area, off Friar’s Walk. “I saw a baby lying in the toilet,” she told the court.

The scene was sealed off and the remains were removed to Cork University Hospital, where Garda Hayes formally identified the baby to assistant state pathologist Margot Bolster, who performed an autopsy.

The autopsy established the cause of death as hypoxia due to placenta failure in association with aspiration.

Dr Cullinane offered her condolences to the baby’s mother, Elaine, who, flanked by her husband, shed tears during the short hearing.