The cause of a seven-week-old baby's death remains unacertained following a three day hearing which heard details of how he was exposed to monkey dust during his short life.

Little Ronnie Higginson died on November 26 2019 after going into cardiac arrest at a relative's home in Derwent Street, Cobridge.

Paramedics attended the scene and gave him emergency treatment. But despite their efforts Ronnie was pronounced dead at hospital a short time later.

On Wednesday (September 25) Staffordshire Area Coroner Emma Serrano recorded an open verdict following a three-day hearing examining the circumstances leading up to his death. She heard evidence from police, Stoke-on-Trent City Council's children's services department and medics.

Ronnie's parents Kayleigh Clarke and Michael Higginson failed to get medical attention for the tot in the final days of his life. Both were later convicted of child cruelty by neglect and sentenced at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court, with Clarke being jailed for 27 months and Higginson receiving a 15-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.

Paramedics attended the scene and gave Ronnie emergency treatment (West Midlands Ambulance Service).

Both had a history of drug use, the inquest heard this week, and tests carried out after Ronnie's death indicated he had been exposed to monkey dust during his short life. Tests carried out on bottles of baby formula seized after his death revealed trace amounts of the drug, which may have been transferred from the environment or through poor hygiene when his bottles were being prepared.

Written statements from Ronnie's relatives and a friend of the family, which were read out at the hearing, revealed that they had raised concerns about his health in the days before he died and urged his parents to take him to a GP or walk-in centre. They said his symptoms had included a cough and breathing difficulties.

But Ms Clarke had said he "seemed better" on the day before his death. And she "didn't want to walk up to the walk-in centre for nothing", the inquest heard.

At the time of his death Ronnie was subject to a child protection notice, which had been put in place in the same month he was born. And his mother had not revealed she was expecting him until she told a social worker she was 30 weeks pregnant.

A referral had been made by Staffordshire Police after concerns were raised about drug use in the home, the inquest was told. Agency social worker Helen Hawkins, who left the council in October 2019 just five days after Ronnie was born, said she was "taken aback" by the conditions the family lived in at their home in Mulgrave Street, Cobridge, and they were among the worst she had seen in her 16 years of child protection work.

The inquest heard how traces of monkey dust were found on Ronnie's bottles of baby formula (Nub News).

She reported her worries to senior members of the children's services team and said the situation should have been escalated to legal advice in her opinion. But it was the view of senior management that the family should be given the opportunity to engage with services.

The family's case was later handed to newly-qualified social worker Abigail Sumner, who had joined the authority just days earlier. In her statement, read out at the inquest, she said the case should have been given to a more senior social worker and she was tasked with telling Ronnie's siblings that he had died.

"When I first started I was not given a full background of their history, just given the case after a brief conversation in the car after meeting the family", she said. "I had only been employed for a week by Stoke-on-Trent children's services.

"The parents had bad feelings about social services, they kept saying they were being harassed by social services and police. I tried to build a relationship with them.

"They were not engaging, I would try to arrange meetings but they would not attend.

"On November 20 there was a meeting arranged at the school and Kayleigh and Michael did attend. Michael was getting more and more agitated as the meeting progressed and left – Kayleigh said she did not feel comfortable talking to us without him present.

"I felt they were not working with us at all – I raised this with my manager. They told me to have a multi-professional meeting with the aim of seeking legal advice, but I didn't know what the routes were for legal advice.

"I arranged the professionals' meeting for November 27, but sadly Ronnie passed away the day before. I tried to do what I could but I didn't have the knowledge or experience.

"I felt overwhelmed and ended up leaving (the authority), I felt very much on my own and out of my depth. I had to tell the children their baby brother passed away and I will never forget telling them this had happened."

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