BABY Sean Opoku had been healthy, growing fast and putting on weight day by day.

But his life was cut short at four months when he was fed his milk, laid down to sleep and ended up choking on his own vomit.

Sean was in the care of illegal childminder Jennifer Allen a woman with a long history of mental illness and well known to social services.

It was the first time the baby had been in her care.

The inquest into Sean's death at Walthamstow Coroner's court last week heard how the baby came to die in a stranger's house while in the care of a woman who confessed she "hadn't paid much attention" to him.

The court was told how his mother, Linda Opoku, of Orford Road, Walthamstow, dropped him off at Mrs Allen's house in Grosvenor Park Road, Walthamstow, at 10.45am on July 2 last year.

It was Mrs Opoku's first day back at work since Sean's birth.

She wasn't concerned about leaving him with Mrs Allen, who had looked after her seven-year-old daughter Ashley since she was a baby. She did not know about the woman's mental health problems.

Mrs Allen left Sean in his pushchair until 11am, when he started crying.

When walking him around had no effect, she gave Sean two ounces of milk and laid him on his back on her sofa. "He was tired, but fighting sleep," she told coroner Dr Elizabeth Stearns.

He eventually fell asleep at 12.30pm and at 12.45pm Mrs Allen moved him back into his pushchair.

Mrs Allen, who was also looking after a four-year-old called Peter, said she then cooked lunch before starting the housework. She told the court: "I didn't pay much attention to Sean. He was very tired."

At 2pm the baby's mother called to ask how her son was and whether he had been crying.

In a statement read out in court, Mrs Opoku said: "She said he was fine, just sleeping. She told me he had not cried and was OK."

But Mrs Allen had not checked on the baby since putting him in his chair.

At 2.45pm Mrs Allen went to wake Sean as she had to leave to collect children in her care from school, including Sean's sister Ashley.

She told the court: "He wasn't moving. His right hand felt cold. I started panicking. I knew that he was dead. I was frightened and didn't know what to do."

Instead of phoning an ambulance, she called her estranged husband, Michael, and he said he would go straight round to the house.

When he had not arrived by 3pm Mrs Allen left and went to pick up the other children from school.

She arrived home with the children ten minutes later, when she broke the news to Ashley that her baby brother was dead. He was still in his pushchair in the living room.

The court heard that Ashley became distraught and was sobbing, crying "the baby's dead".

Mr Allen arrived to find all the children crying and he raced down the street to Fuller's Builders Merchants, in Beulah Road, where he knew Sean's father, Francis Koduah, was working.

Francis sprinted to the Allen home where he found his son lifeless in his buggy.

The devasted father picked up his son and, with Ashley following him, ran into the street screaming for help.

Mr Koduah ran to his employer and banged on the door begging for help.

A passing GP who heard the commotion offered help and tried to resuscitate the child while waiting for paramedics. But she and the paramedic both agreed that the lifeless child was beyond help.

Paramedic Stephen Macciochi told the court: "The baby was cold to the touch and his jaw was quite stiff. It implied the baby had been gone for quite some time." Sean and his father were taken to Whipps Cross Hospital and there met Mrs Opoku, who had been brought from work by police.

Police initially investigated the death as they were concerned that Mrs Allen had not phoned an ambulance. Her husband had eventually called one at 3.27pm 42 minutes after Mrs Allen discovered Sean had died.

A Home Office pathologist, Prof Anthony Risdon, said the cause of death was inhalation of vomit. The court heard that in all probability the child would have been coughing, spluttering and turning blue.

The coroner asked Prof Risdon what any parent or childminder should have done. He replied: "Pick the child up, clear the airway and make sure they are breathing, and call for help."

He estimated that by the time paramedics saw the baby he had already been dead for three to five hours.

In recording an open verdict, Dr Stearns said she could not be sure why Sean had inhaled his own vomit and died.

Det Sgt Neil Casey, who led the investigation, concluded that no crime had been committed by Mrs Allen. But he criticised the council for failing to stop her illegal childminding.

He said: "A psychiatric nurse told me about Mrs Allen's mental health problems one month after Sean's death.

"The nurse said she had informed social services on two occasions about Mrs Allen's unregistered childminding. But social services denied all knowledge of receiving such information, so no action was taken.

"I wanted Sean's parents to know about Jennifer's medical history. I thought they should be made aware of that. But the council decided this might breach Jennifer's human rights.

"I pushed the matter, the decision was overturned and the family was informed in December."

Det Sgt Casey said he requested reports on Sean's case from social services but was told he was not entitled to them. He was finally given the information on Mrs Allen in March.

The council's former principal officer for child protection, Parveen Hussain, said social services became aware of Mrs Allen in the 1980s when officers dealt with her in relation to the care of her own three children.

"There was some suspicion in the '80s that she was illegally childminding. She was reminded in a letter in 1988 that she shouldn't be minding children," said Ms Hussain.

She claimed there was no evidence to suggest Mrs Allen continued looking after children.

But Ms Hussain added that social services "recorded that she continued, despite being told to stop".

Mrs Allen looked after about 150 children for a total of 17 years. She had no training, no first aid knowledge, and admitted she would not even know how to check for a pulse.

Coroner Dr Elizabeth Stearns demanded to know what the council had done since Sean's death to publicise the fact that parents should not leave their children with unregistered childminders.

She was told that in April this year a letter was written internally between the social services and lifelong learning departments, in which it was noted that something needed to be done.

Dr Stearns said: "It all sounds very impressive but if it just remains a piece of paper and nothing is put into practise, then it's not worth the paper it's written on."

Mrs Allen was asked if she had any comments to make on the case, but she declined.

July 18, 2002 12:00