Newborn baby found in dirty house 'tested positive for cocaine' before his death

A child who was just nine weeks old tested positive for cocaine before he died, it's been revealed. The newborn baby was found unresponsive in a dirty house, according to a review.

On January 6, 2021 - during the second lockdown - the boy, known as 'Child Ollie', was wrapped in a blanket by his dad at a property in the Wirral area. His father then fell asleep with him on a couch where he suffocated.

According to emergency responders at the scene, the house was "cluttered and dirty", with "dog food all over the floor". The proper also had no electricity and was in "disrepair" with some areas "visibly dangerous".

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Merseyside Police also attended the scene. Three older children living in the house also later tested positive for cocaine, reports the ECHO.

The case was the subject of a Child Safeguarding Practice Review commissioned by the Wirral Safeguarding Children Partnership. It was set up to examine the way the family had interacted with various agencies before Ollie's death.

In the report, David Robbins, the manager of the partnership, wrote: "Ollie’s father was awoken at about 11am by his [older children] and reported that Ollie was face down in his arm crease with his whole face covered and had blood around his nose."

An ambulance was called and Ollie was resuscitated at the scene by paramedics after around 23 minutes. It later emerged he had suffered a severe brain injury due to lack of oxygen.

Doctors at both Arrowe Park Hospital, where he was initially treated, and then Alder Hey Children's Hospital, where he was transferred, explained that the outlook was bleak and "meaningful recovery" was no longer possible. Ollie's