A POLICE officer has made a plea to the mother of a newborn baby found dead in a pub to come forward and said: "I'm not here to arrest you".
Emergency services were called to The Three Horseshoes, in Oulton, Leeds at around 4.45pm on Sunday following the discovery of a newborn baby girl in the toilet area.
She was tragically confirmed dead by paramedics.
A full investigation remains ongoing today by detectives.
West Yorkshire Police urgently appealed for the baby's mother to contact them or seek medical help earlier today and the force held a press conference in Leeds at 2pm today as part of this.
What was said at the press conference?
Detective Chief Inspector James Entwistle, from West Yorkshire Police’s Homicide and Major Inquiry Team, said the baby was found in a bathroom cubicle and reiterated that their priority is to ensure the mother's welfare.
Addressing the mother directly, he said: “From a police perspective I just want to be really clear.
“I’m not here to arrest you, I’m not here to arrest anyone else.
“I’m here to make sure I understand what’s happened and make sure that you get the medical attention that you need.”
The evidence so far suggested the baby's death was "a stillbirth, and a stillbirth that may have taken place within that bathroom cubicle", according to the detective.
He added: “Please, get in touch with us, get in touch with our NHS colleagues and please make sure that we can get you the care you need.
“All I want to achieve is making sure that this doesn’t happen again to you or to anyone else.”
A message from the NHS to the baby's mother
Karen Sykes, head of safeguarding at Leeds Teaching Hospital NHS Trust, told the press conference in Leeds: “To the mother of this baby girl – we are really concerned about your medical, physical and emotional wellbeing at this point in time and urgently ask you to seek some medical help and advice.
“You can either go to your GP, but if you don’t feel comfortable going to your GP, come to one of our ED departments.”
Ms Sykes added the mother could also call 111 or go to one of the trust’s maternity assessment centres.
Mr Entwistle said earlier: "If the mother is comfortable speaking to the police then she can do so by calling 101 or she can use live chat 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."
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