Heartbreaking death of baby hours before 'loving' mum died remains a mystery
The death of a five-month-old baby who died just hours before his mother, remains a mystery as social services say they had no concerns for his welfare.
An inquest has heard baby Kevin Degutis was found unresponsive by his mum Viktorija Mardosiene at their home. He was taken to Royal Stoke Hospital where he was later pronounced dead. Sadly just hours later Viktorija, 32, collapsed and was taken to Harplands Hospital.
An inquest into their deaths, which concluded on Thursday, heard from Viktorija's sister Tatjana Abraitiene, who described her as "so kind and full of love". She added: "She was amazing, she loved her kids so much. Life without her is hard. She was my best friend, and I could talk to her about everything."
Viktorija Mardosiene died just hours after her five month old baby (Stoke Sentinel / BPM Media)The inquest heard that a social services case file had been closed a few days before their deaths, on August 9 last year, reported the Stoke Sentinel.
David Maher, a team manager at Staffordshire County Council's children's services department, said the case file had been opened three weeks after Kevin's father had contacted police to say he was concerned for his family's welfare. His father contacted the police again later that day to say he and Viktorija had talked things over.
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Mr Maher added: "After an investigation, it was found the pair were cohabiting at the property. There were issues with alcohol but it was found there were no care concerns for Kevin. The father told the team and said that she has said she planned to stop drinking as much. He said she is a good mum and she cares a lot about her children.
"The social worker's report summarised they decided to close Kevin's case. The father declined tier-two support and any service up to this point had been voluntary. There was no evidence Kevin had been exposed to harm. The report said the house was tidy and the house was well-stocked with nappies and food. There were no problems regarding Kevin's growth or safeguarding issues.
"Sadly, he died only four to five days after the case was closed on August 3. A consensus after their deaths said that the action was entirely proportional to information that was shared at the time. "
Concluding, Coroner Duncan Richie said: "Kevin Degutis lived with his parents at 9 Dunkirk, Newcastle under Lyme. He was born in February 2022. On August 8, 2022 his father was at work and his mother was at home. It seems the pair habitually shared a double bed. Shortly after midnight, Viktorija awoke to find Kevin not breathing and called for an ambulance that responded within minutes.
"Crews attended to find Kevin showing signs of death. He was rushed to hospital and sadly death was declared in the early hours. Viktorija was breathalyzed and was found to be slightly over the drink driving limit. Viktorija was distraught and later that day she collapsed and died.
"A pathologist's report could not identify whether Kevin's death was natural or unnatural. Paediatric pathologist Dr Roger Malcomson said that overlying can occur when there is co-sleeping and there can be other issues like possible CO2 trapping and positional asphyxia, as well as hypothermia or overheating. But it was impossible to say whether the death was due to natural or unnatural causes.
"Sadly, we will never know what caused Kevin to die. The post-mortem did not identify a cause of death and it is not possible to say. The medical cause of death is unascertained and my conclusion is one of a narrative verdict of death by unascertained causes."
A previous inquest into the death of Viktorija had heard that a granular material had been found in her stomach. It was not clear what this was, and after further investigation, there was still no answer to what this material was.
Mr Richie said: "The samples of blood and urine had been disposed of so it was not possible to rerun the tests again. However, due to the sophisticated nature of the tests, toxicologists were able to conduct tests on the data involved. It was found in her system diazepam and paracetamol. The concentration of these two drugs was not to excess. The tests can detect over 2000 drugs. The method is sensitive and can pick up with good sensitivity. The toxicologist added the tests did not pick up on a sign of ketoacidosis.
"The fire brigade made checks to see if there was any poisonous material in the home and did not find anything., There was no alcohol in the system at her time of death. I do find on the balance of probability that even though the medical cause of death is unascertained, I am recording a conclusion of a death of natural causes because I can conclude that I can rule out non-natural causes of death. My condolences go to her family."
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The coroner said he would also be writing to Staffordshire Police Chief Constable Chris Noble to ask about the roughly three-week gap between Kevin's father raising his concerns with police and the referral to social workers.
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