Seven suspects questioned after newborn found dead in Sheffield home
Developing story first seen 2 hours ago
Neighbours have described the Sheffield house where a newborn baby girl was allegedly murdered as being rented by a Slovakian family who had abandoned the child before police arrived, as detectives continue questioning seven suspects in custody. New details have emerged about the property in Wincobank, which residents said was meant to house a maximum of six people but often held ten to twelve occupants, likened by one neighbour to "Piccadilly Circus" due to constant comings and goings since the family moved in roughly eight months ago.
One neighbour claimed CCTV footage showed the eldest son and his girlfriend leaving the property at around 4am on Sunday, followed by the mother and about five others shortly before 6am, minutes before police arrived to find the baby dead. She said she was told the child had died around 10pm and later saw the body, wrapped in blankets, carried out at about 1pm. South Yorkshire Police, whose forensics teams and a cadaver dog have continued searching the property and nearby bins and gardens, said seven people remain in custody on suspicion of murder while officers work to confirm the ages of some of those arrested.
- Neighbours say Slovakian family renting the house abandoned the baby
- House meant for six people often held up to twelve occupants
- Seven suspects remain in custody as police verify their ages
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Neighbours in Wincobank, Sheffield, say the house was rented by a Slovakian family who moved in around eight months ago, with far more people living there than the property was meant to hold. Police were called after a newborn baby girl was found dead at the address, and South Yorkshire Police have described this as a suspected murder investigation.
Seven people are currently in custody on suspicion of murder, though their identities, ages and relationship to the baby have not been officially confirmed by police. Much of what is known about events on the night in question, including accounts of who left the property and when, comes from neighbours rather than confirmed police statements.
Forensic teams, including a search dog, have been examining the house and surrounding gardens and bins as part of the investigation. The case raises questions about the child's parentage and the circumstances of her death, which detectives are still working to establish.
Full account
Detectives in Sheffield are continuing to question seven people arrested on suspicion of murder after a newborn baby girl was found dead at a house in the Wincobank area of the city. South Yorkshire Police said officers were called to the property shortly before 6am on Sunday following a report raising concern for the infant's safety; when they arrived, the baby was found and pronounced dead at the scene.
On Monday, police tape remained draped across the two-storey, three-bedroom end-mews house as forensic officers worked inside, while a police dog handler was seen using a cadaver dog to search nearby bins and gardens. Detective Chief Inspector Emma Knight said South Yorkshire Police recognised the news would be deeply unsettling for local people and sought to reassure the community, though further details of the force's statement were not fully available.
Neighbours described the property as being let to a Slovakian family who had moved in around eight months earlier, and said the household routinely held far more occupants than the home's stated capacity of six, with numbers said to reach ten or twelve at various points, ranging from young children to middle-aged adults. Residents said the family included two teenage girls, a young man in his twenties and a boy of about eleven, though none recalled seeing a woman who appeared to be pregnant. One neighbour likened the constant coming and going at the house to a busy public thoroughfare.
Accounts from neighbours about the hours before police arrived have not been verified by police and should be treated with caution. One resident said she had been told by an officer that the baby had died the previous evening, and claimed — based on her own CCTV footage, which she said had since been handed to police — that occupants had left the property in stages overnight, with the property empty of adults by the time officers arrived shortly before 6am. She said she later saw the baby's body, wrapped in blankets, being carried from the house at around 1pm. Neighbours uniformly described the deaths as shocking and distressing for the local community, with one saying the incident had upset their own daughter.
Where outlets differ
Only one of the two supplied sources contained usable reporting; the second returned solely a Google cookie-consent notice with no article text, so no cross-outlet comparison of emphasis or detail was possible.
Within the single usable source, there is a distinction between confirmed police information (arrests, timing of the 999 call, discovery of the baby, ongoing forensic examination) and neighbours' unverified, secondhand accounts (the alleged CCTV timeline, the family's nationality and composition, occupancy numbers), which are attributed to residents rather than to police and have not been independently confirmed.
The police statement from Detective Chief Inspector Emma Knight was cut off in the source material, so only a partial quote about reassuring the community could be reported.
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Originally published by Daily Mail as “Home where newborn baby allegedly murdered was being ‘rented by large family’ who ‘abandoned child’ as police quiz seven suspects”.