Onlookers left 'in tears' as young child dies after being air lifted to hospital and police descend on street close to school
Photos taken at Woodland Street in Biddulph, North Staffordshire, show an ambulance parked where emergency services arrived on scene yesterday afternoon.
Three uniformed officers and two marked cars with flashing lights were positioned in the entrance to a school, Our Lady of Grace Catholic Academy, locals said.
An air ambulance took off after landing on playing fields off Church Road but police later confirmed an unidentified youth had died.
An eye witness told StokeonTrentLive: 'There's lots of people here and some of them are tearful.
'There's no cordon or police tape anywhere but there is a PCSO stationed outside a home. There's also two car with their lights flashing on the grounds of the school.'
A Staffordshire Police spokesman said: 'We were called at 2.50pm on Sunday to a property in Biddulph.
'A child was taken to hospital by air ambulance. Sadly, the child was pronounced dead by doctors a short time later.
'The child's next of kin are aware and are being supported by specialist officers at this difficult time.'
West Midlands Ambulance Service have been contacted for comment.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
7 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Girl, four, dies in hospital after 'incident' at Waterworld
A four-year-old girl has died following an incident at a swimming pool in Waterworld today. Paramedics rushed to the scene at Waterworld on Festival Way in Hanley, Staffordshire, amid reports a child was in critical condition. Both West Midlands Ambulance Service and Waterworld staff treated the youngster before taking her to hospital for further care. But, despite best efforts of medical staff, the young girl died a shortly afterwards. The child's next of kin have been informed and are currently being supported by specially-trained officers. Detective Chief Inspector Lucy Maskew from Staffordshire Police said: 'Our thoughts are with the family at this terribly sad time. 'We are now making enquiries and looking to establish the circumstances of the incident. 'We would ask that members of the public avoid speculating in these early stages of the investigation and allow the family to grieve.' A Waterworld spokesperson said: 'It is with great sadness that we learned of this little girl's passing this evening. 'All our thoughts are with her family and loved ones during these extremely difficult times. 'Waterworld is in shock and has decided to remain closed tomorrow out of respect for the family. Waterworld is working closely with the authorities at this sad time.' Staffordshire Police are urging any witnesses or anyone with knowledge to contact them by calling 101 quoting incident number 460 of August 4.
Daily Mail
7 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Girl, 14, died at psychiatric hospital after 'worker' with false ID left her alone - then fled the UK, inquest hears
A 14-year-old girl who should have been under constant supervision at a psychiatric hospital has died after a 'care worker', who used a fake ID to get the job, left her alone before fleeing to Ghana, an inquest has heard. Ruth Szymankiewicz, from Salisbury, Wiltshire, had an eating disorder and was a patient at Huntercombe Hospital's Thames ward, a psychiatric intensive care unit (PICU) in Maidenhead, since October 2021. She had been placed under strict one-to-one supervision following a self-harming incident 10 days before her death, a jury inquest held at Buckinghamshire Coroner's Court heard on Monday. However, on February 12, 2022, the member of staff responsible for watching her - a man then known as Ebo Acheampong - failed to maintain the constant supervision plan, the court was told. He left Ruth unaccompanied for around 15 minutes and she was left to walk around the hospital and to her room, assistant coroner Ian Wade KC said. The teenager was found unconscious shortly after, having been left alone long enough to asphyxiate herself and sadly died at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford two days later. A post-mortem examination carried out by the Home Office later determined the preliminary cause of death to be 'hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy' - a type of brain damage due to lack of oxygen. It later emerged Acheampong had been using false identity documents and was hired by the hospital under a fake name, Mr Wade told the court. Speaking to jurors, the coroner said: 'The evidence showed he had been employed through an agency (Platinum), who checked his identity documents, and they even trained him by putting him through a day-and-a-half course. 'It appears that these particular processes were the norm and were sufficient to enable a hospital to employ this person. 'But on February 12, he did not keep Ruth under a constant watch. 'Some time around 8pm in the evening, this man ended his shift without knowing where she was and without making sure that he handed her over to another member of staff to continue the one-to-one care regime. 'He simply left.' Acheampong never returned to work at Huntercombe Hospital and instead fled the UK to Ghana, where it is thought he is originally from, jurors were told. 'It seems that he learned what happened that evening,' Mr Wade said. Thames Valley Police launched an investigation and found Acheampong had gone to Heathrow airport and got on a plane to Ghana 'never to be seen again', the coroner said. 'You will not hear from that man, and he let Ruth down,' Mr Wade told jurors. The court further heard Huntercombe Hospital had been inspected twice by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) prior to the incident. 'The CQC had not reported favourably on Huntercombe,' the coroner told the inquest. Active Care Group, which owned Huntercombe at the time of Ruth's death, has since closed the facility. Paying tribute the Ruth, her parents Kate and Mark, a GP and surgeon respectively, said she loved animals and reading and had a 'fiery, determined' personality and a 'huge heart'. They said she 'was and still is deeply loved' and added her death has 'shattered' them. The jury was told Ruth had climbed Kilimanjaro aged just 11 and had once lived in Tanzania for a period of time with her parents and two sisters. Ruth was initially being cared for on the children's ward at Salisbury Hospital but was transferred to Southampton for further care after she was injured when a nasogastric tube fed contents into a lung instead of her stomach in September 2021. Her parents said they were told days later that Ruth would be moved to Huntercombe Hospital, which they found had a poor rating and was a two-hour drive away from their home. Her mother, Dr Szymankiewicz, said the process for why Ruth needed to be moved to the hospital and onto a PICU was 'opaque' and that the system was 'incredibly difficult to navigate'. In a statement, she said: 'We wish we had fought harder. We had no idea how awful it would be.' She said there was 'never any sense that staff thought it was important to communicate' with them about her daughter's care. Serious incidents, including Ruth drinking cleaning fluid and having black eyes, were not raised with them, Dr Szymankiewicz added. The inquest, at Buckinghamshire Coroner's Court in Beaconsfield, is expected to last for about two weeks.
Daily Mail
7 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Mother of tortured toddler Baby P to face public parole hearing as she makes fresh bid for freedom
The mother of tortured toddler Baby P will have her fresh bid for freedom heard by a public parole board - after a judge cited a 'substantial public interest' in the case. Tracey Connelly, now 44, is set to make her plea over the course of October 22 and 23 at an unconfirmed venue. It will mark the abuser's first review since her second recall to prison in August last year for breaching her licence conditions. Connelly was jailed in 2009 for causing or allowing the death of her 17-month son Peter at their home in Tottenham, north London, August 3, 2007. She sought, alongside her lover Steven Barker and his brother Jason Owen, to cover up the injuries inflicted on the youngster - missed by social service and health workers. Little Peter suffered more than 50 wounds over and eight-month period. These included a broken back, broken ribs, mutilated fingertips, and missing fingernails. Tracey Connelly was initially released in 2013 but was later recalled to prison in 2015 for breaching her parole conditions. She was released again in July 2022 after the parole board had rejected three previous bids in 2015, 2017 and 2019 -it was heard she was considered to be at 'low risk of committing a further offence' and that probation officers and prison officials supported the plan. But after being called back to prison again in August last year - over breached licence conditions - Connelly will now face a review. The Parole Board received two applications for October's review to be held in public, which described Connelly's 'landmark case' as 'one of the most high-profile and devastating child protection failures in UK history' that 'permanently altered the conversation around safeguarding', according to Judge Peter Rook KC's judgment. It was argued the public still does not have access to the 'real details', citing that previous decisions around parole and recall have been made in private and a public hearing would 'provide crucial context to a case that remains deeply significant to the public'. A lawyer for Connelly argued against the hearing being made public, saying it poses a risk to her safety and that there is a 'high risk' her identity will be compromised as 'threats to her safety are real and current'. The legal representative also said Connelly has suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety and depression, and that a public hearing will 'exacerbate' these issues and have a 'significant and detrimental effect' on her evidence at the parole hearing. But Judge Rook, on behalf of the chair of the Parole Board, said the lawyer acknowledged Connelly 'recovers well from these events'. According to his judgment, Connelly experienced 'offence-related bullying and aggression' after her recall to prison which 'led to a decline in her mental health' but the judge said she reportedly responded well, without resorting to violence, and has now 'stabilised'. Granting the application for October's hearing to be held in public, the judge said: 'There can be no doubt that there is a substantial public interest in this case. 'There is a strong public interest in the extent that Ms Connelly currently presents a risk and, if so, what measures are proposed in order to manage it.' He added that a public hearing could 'reassure' the public of the 'thoroughness' of the Parole Board's risk assessment and the probation resources which would be supervising her in the event of her release. 'This may go some way to address legitimate public concern about Ms Connelly,' judge Rook said. Permission for Connelly to leave prison in 2022 came despite the Parole Board panel highlighting concerns over her ability to manipulate and deceive, and hearing evidence of how she had become embroiled in prison romances and traded secret love letters with an inmate. Then-justice secretary Dominic Raab appealed against the decision, but a judge rejected his bid to keep her behind bars. Condemning the move, Mr Raab said at the time this was proof the parole system needs a 'fundamental overhaul'. When Connolly was first released, she was made subject to 20 licence conditions, including having to wear an electronic tag and disclose all her relationships, having her internet use monitored or obeying curfew. She was also banned from going to certain places to 'avoid contact with victims and to protect children'. The Parole Board said that she had been cleared due to a low risk of reoffending and that probation officers and prison officials supported the plan. It will now be a matter for the Board to decide if the latest breach of her conditions was so serious that she should not be released. A Parole Board spokesman said back in April: 'It's been directed to an oral hearing now but no hearing date has been set yet.' Baby Peter's family had a violent history, with a report in the aftermath of the toddler's death concluding there were 'striking similarities' in 'patterns of care and abuse experience by Tracey Connelly' and those endured by the toddler.
