Gran relives fateful night her grandson died as she slept on him

BABY George Charnock - tragic death

A three-week-old baby died after his grandmother fell asleep with him in her arms - and ended up sitting on him, an inquest heard.

Baby George Charnock of Lychgate Court, Oldham, was unresponsive when his grandmother Eileen Charnock fell asleep on the sofa. The grandmother, described as an insomniac, hadn’t slept for 68 hours before falling asleep that night.

Mrs Charnock told an inquest she was in “her own hell” after reliving the harrowing details while looking after her daughter Emily’s two children.

At the inquest at Heywood Coroner’s Court she recalled waking and finding her grandson unresponsive at the bottom of the sofa, with his five-year-old sister close by. Mrs Charnock had been trying to wind George but suddenly fell asleep.

Mrs Charnock had suffered insomnia for years and would go without sleep for up to 72 hours before falling into a deep sleep.

She told the inquest that on the night of George’s death she had gone 68 hours without sleep and had felt “dozy” while winding the child.

“I fell asleep,” she explained. “Once I go out, I go out. I was lying lengthways. I woke up. Then I shot up, I saw George at the bottom lying there, I got hold of George, he wasn’t responding.”

George’s five-year-old sister told police she had tried to wake her grandmother. She tried to retrieve her brother, but couldn’t pull him out from under her

Mrs Charnock said: “When I got hold of George he wasn’t responding.” She called emergency services and tried resuscitating George until they arrived

She said: “I live that day every day. Part of me died, that day he died. I just wish I could turn the clock back. I didn’t even get to say goodbye.”

Emergency services rushed George to the Royal Oldham Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Though arrested on suspicion of causing death by “overlaying” — smothering a child while sleeping with it, while under the influence of alcohol or drugs — Mrs Charnock’s blood sample was negative and she was cleared.

Emily Charnock told the inquest she had been drunk on a night out and had stayed at the house of a man she met. She went home early the following afternoon to find police at the house.

“I saw people in forensic suits coming out of my house and said, who’s dead? Who’s dead? A woman told me it was George. I just remember screaming.”

George’s father, Daniel Brophy, didn’t find out his child had died until he read it in a newspaper three days later, the inquest heard.

Home Office pathologist Dr Naomi Carter told the inquest sofa sharing was a known factor in sudden, unexpected child death. Contributory factors can include overheating and smothering - the latter a strong possibility in this case.

“I can’t say it must be the cause of death; the cause here must be described as unascertained,” she said. “Sharing a sofa with a baby is not a safe thing to do.”

Coroner Lisa Hashmi said: “With the cause of death being unascertained I take the view that the only conclusion in this case is one of an open conclusion. Anything else would be unjust to the family.”