Cops probing ‘unexplained’ death of three-week old baby girl found still and lifeless at home 26th Oct 2016
No arrests have been made but police have questioned baby Violet’s mother and her partner
A THREE-WEEK-OLD baby girl was found lifeless at home in circumstances police are calling “unexplained”.
The mother of little Violet and her partner were quizzed by cops, but they have failed to contact the man understood to be the baby’s father.
Claire Turnbull and little Violet, who was found dead on Saturday morning
Police are now keeping guard outside the first-floor flat of the family in Cupar, Fife.
Claire Turnbull, 34, and her partner Ryan McLachlan, 40, have been spoken to by police after the baby was found dead on Saturday morning, but no arrests have been made.
In a statement released through Police Scotland, the family of Violet today said: “We as a family are devastated by the loss of our beautiful daughter, granddaughter and sister Violet-Ivy Turnbull. We wish to be left in private to mourn at this time.”
Fife Council said that they could not confirm if there had been social services involvement with the family, as the police investigation as ongoing.
Neighbours to the family say they moved in, with a toddler and Violet, weeks ago to the temporary council accommodation.
Ryan McLachlan, the partner of Violet’s mother – who police have questioned over her death
They said there is usually a high turnover of residents.
One said: “There are always different people living there. We have no idea who the couple are – no one knows them around here – but we saw some local, well-known, drug addicts up at their flat a couple of times.”
This is not the first time police have been in contact with Claire. In May she was reported missing while five months pregnant. She had missed a hospital appointment but was found safe and well the next day.
Neighbours were woken up by the activity on Saturday morning and described it as “tragic”.
A police spokesman said: “The death is being treated as unexplained pending further inquiries.”
Ryan, Claire and a toddler the pair lived with as well as tragic Violet
Laurie Matthew, from charity 18-and-Under, told the Daily Mirror:
“I know very little about what happened to this poor child but there needs to be a full inquiry into the unexplained death of such a young baby. Police and social services will, I hope, be thoroughly investigating this child’s short life and subsequent death. Such a young child, particularly if the parents needed any extra support, should have been closely monitored. I hope this family had the support they needed. It is really sad that this child died. I only hope an inquiry finds out the causes so lessons can be learned to prevent further tragedies.” SOURCE
Mysterious death of tragic three-week-old baby girl found dead at home sparks calls for full inquiry
Little Violet was discovered still and lifeless on Saturday morning in a tragedy police describe as ‘unexplained’.
Police have questioned her mother Claire Turnbull and partner Ryan McLachlan and officers have kept guard outside their first-floor flat in Cupar, Fife.
It is understood officers are still trying to contact Thomas Nicol, who says he is Violet’s father. He separated from Claire earlier this year and now lives in Kirkcaldy. Last night, police confirmed Violet’s death was still being treated as “unexplained”. They said no arrests had been made. Fife Council said that while the police investigation was ongoing, they could not confirm whether there had been any social services involvement with the family.
Violet lived in a flat with Claire, 34, Ryan, 40, and a toddler.
Neighbours described it as temporary council accommodation with a high turnover of residents. They said the family had only moved in a few weeks ago.
Yesterday, Laurie Matthew, from award-winning children’s charity 18-and-Under, said: “I know very little about what happened to this poor child but there needs to be a full inquiry into the unexplained death of such a young baby. Police and social services will, I hope, be thoroughly investigating this child’s short life and subsequent death. Such a young child, particularly if the parents needed any extra support, should have been closely monitored. Babies can be very demanding, especially if there are other young children in the family. And families need all the help they can get, either from close family and friends or from health and social services. Every child born in Scotland deserves the best possible care and support. Occasionally, families need additional help. I hope this family had the support they needed. It is really sad that this child died. I only hope an inquiry finds out the causes so lessons can be learned to prevent further tragedies. Every death of a young child is a tragedy and as a civilised society, we need to do all that we can to prevent these tragedies from happening.”
Ryan’s Facebook page is littered with drug references and posters supporting the legalisation of cannabis. He posted photographs of Claire and Violet that were taken in hospital soon after the baby was born.
Thomas replied to one of them, saying: “Beautiful wee gitl (sic) and it’s good to see you doing well Claire so when you going to let me meet my little girl seeing as. I do want to.”
Last night, his brother Liam, from East Wemyss, said: “Tam is Violet’s dad. She is Tam’s first bairn. He’s lost bairns before through miscarriages and that. CID were at the door looking for him on Saturday. He was going with Claire for about four or five months. They used to live in Methil. We never got to meet Violet.”
Police launched a hunt for Claire after she was reported missing in May, when she was five months pregnant. She had missed a hospital appointment but was found safe and well in Methil the next day. Yesterday, a neighbour told how the family moved into the flat in about six weeks ago.
They said: “It is just so tragic. We were all woken up by the activity on Saturday morning. The police turned up and were taking loads of stuff out of the flat in bags. The worst bit was when the undertaker turned up. He went into the house with a baby’s Moses basket and came out a short time later. It was absolutely heartbreaking to watch.”
Another neighbour said the property was a council “scatter flat”. They added: “There are always different people living there. We have no idea who the couple are – no one knows them around here – but we saw some local, well-known, drug addicts up at their flat a couple of times.”
A police spokesman said: “The death is being treated as unexplained pending further inquiries.” SOURCE
Newborn baby found dead at house in Fife named by police
A baby who was found dead at a house in Fife has been named by police.
Violet-Ivy Turnbull, who was three weeks old, died at the property in Kinloss Crescent, Cupar, at the weekend.
Police were called to the scene at around 5am on Saturday morning.
Police released a statement on behalf of her relatives on Wednesday.
It said: “We as a family are devastated by the loss of our beautiful daughter, granddaughter and sister Violet-Ivy Turnbull. We wish to be left in private to mourn at this time.”
The death is still being treated as unexplained. SOURCE
- Daily Record
- Cupar family “devastated” by loss of baby girl Violet-Ivy The Courier
- Cupar baby death: Family’s devastation over loss of little Violet-Ivy Evening Telegraph
Post mortem results awaited as police investigate Cupar baby death The Courier 5pm 25th oct 2016
Police are awaiting the results of a post mortem examination as they continue to investigate the death of a newborn baby in Cupar.
Officers are still treating the discovery of the three-week-old girl’s body as “unexplained” after being called to a flat in Kinloss Crescent on Saturday morning.
A strong police presence has remained in the area as officers attempt to ascertain the cause of the youngster’s sudden death, an incident that has shocked the close-knit community.
The post mortem is understood to have taken place on Tuesday, with details of its findings expected in the coming days.
Meanwhile, floral tributes and teddy bears have continued to be left outside of the upstairs flat where the baby lived with her mother, named locally as Claire Turnbull.
It is understood that she had only moved to the property several weeks ago, with local residents telling The Courier that they had seen very little of their new neighbour since she arrived.
Police Scotland said that it is continuing to investigate the sudden death, as is standard practice in such circumstances.
Cupar baby death: police await post mortem Evening Telegraph – 1.35pm 25th Oct 1016
Police were today awaiting the results of a post mortem on a three-week-old baby who died at a property in north-east Fife.
Officers were called to a house in Kinloss Crescent in Cupar in the early hours of Saturday following the youngster’s death.
It emerged yesterday the girl’s passing was being treated as unexplained.
Today, a police presence remained outside the property, where floral tributes have been left by shocked locals at the bottom of stairs leading to the front door.
A spokesman for Police Scotland told the Tele the death was still being treated as unexplained — and officers are now awaiting the results of the post mortem.
Neighbours today said the family had only lived in the street for a number of weeks.
They were said to have originally been from the Methil area.
One neighbour told the Tele: “It’s an absolutely shocking thing to happen on your own doorstep. This has always been a quiet street. I didn’t really know the couple myself but it’s just so sad.”
Another neighbour said: “As far as I know they have only been here for about eight weeks. They tend to keep themselves to themselves. It’s nice to see the flowers being put down but just awful that something like this has happened.”
One other local added: “You don’t expect to wake up to the news that something like this has happened. My heart goes out to the family.”
It comes after one friend of the family said she believed that the incident had been a “tragic accident”.
The friend, who asked to remain anonymous, added: “Obviously there are rumours starting up but what people don’t know they make up instead.”
A police spokesman said: “Police in Fife were called to an address in Kinloss Crescent at around 5am on Saturday following the death of a three-week-old baby girl. The death is currently being treated as unexplained pending further inquiries and a report will be submitted to the procurator fiscal.”
Three-week-old baby’s death ‘unexplained’ 24 Oct 2016
Police are investigating the “unexplained” death of a three-week-old baby girl in a house in Fife.
Police Scotland said it had been called to an address in Kinloss Crescent, Cupar, following the death of the newborn in the early hours of Saturday morning.
A spokesman for the force said the death was being treated as unexplained pending further inquiries.
He said officers had been called to the house at about 05:00 on Saturday. SOURCE
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Daily Record 24th Oct 2016