Coroner rules Baby Auckland was garrotted and unlawfully killed

A coroner has concluded a full-term baby found wrapped in a 1910 newspaper beneath a County Durham floor was garrotted and unlawfully killed.

• Coroner Crispin Oliver ruled the infant, known as Baby Auckland, was garrotted with twine looped three times around his neck, knotted, then looped again.
• The skeleton was discovered on 29 July 2024 by homeowner Peter Moody during renovation of a building on Fore Bondgate, Bishop Auckland, wrapped in a 1910 newspaper.
• DCI Mel Sutherland told the inquest the twine had been deliberately placed around the child's neck.
• Baby Auckland was buried at Bishop Auckland Town Cemetery in April.