A family have been left with more questions than answers after a mum woke to find her baby unresponsive in bed. The family of six-month-old Rome Morlese gathered at Nottingham Coroners' Court on Thursday, March 16, in the hopes of learning what had happened.
At the start of the inquest, Coroner Elizabeth Didcock stated: "Today is not about blame, but it is about fully and fairly getting the facts. It's an opportunity for you to understand more about what happened to Rome."
Rosie Carter, Rome's mum, stated: "I've got lots of questions for everyone involved." Her sister, Stephanie Carter, explained: "We just need answers as a family", whilst Jermaine Morlese, Rome's dad, added: "We're here to listen, we're here to listen to them about our son."
It was heard that on March 26, 2022, Rosie Carter had put her son, Rome Morlese, to bed in his cot at the family home in Radford at around 8pm. The family had been having a gathering that evening and at around 2am Rosie decided to go to sleep and placed Rome on the other side of her double bed where they co-slept.
Detective sergeant Vincent Clarke, of Nottinghamshire Police, told the inquest: "Rome was closest to the wall and Rosie was sleeping on the other side. Rosie woke in the morning around 9am and found Rome to be lifeless and not breathing or responding."
Paramedics arrived at the scene and CPR was carried out, this was continued in the ambulance and then on arrival at the emergency department at Queen's Medical Centre where Rome was declared dead at 9:46am. The medical cause of death was found to be unattained as neither the external or internal examinations could determine a cause of death as natural or unnatural.
During his short life, Rome was well-loved, but his family had taken him to several appointments due to concerns including his small size, lack of weight gain, stridor (noisy breathing) and a suspected cow's milk protein allergy. The post-mortem examinations were jointly carried out by Dr Stuart Hamilton and Dr Malcolm.
Dr Hamilton stated: "In this case the external examination showed very little if anything of significance, there were no injuries, there were no dysmorphic features, there were some marks of medical intervention but no significant injuries." He went on to explain that there were no abnormalities in the respiratory system, no signs of infection, no evidence of an allergic reaction and other tests also came back normal.
He also explained that there was no sign that Rome's suspected stridor or milk allergy had caused his death, and that there were no signs that Rosie had turned over in the night on to Rome. He added: "Unfortunately in some cases such as this, we have looked at and tested everything we can and quite simply there is no finding that explains Rome's death."
Responding to the pathologist's findings, Rosie stated: "I didn't do anything to my son, I didn't strangle him or suffocate him or do anything. Something has happened to my child and you can't even tell me what's happened."
Rome's maternal grandma, Glennis Carter, added: "I would just like to say on behalf of my daughter thank you for what you have done. I know that my daughter and Jerome have gone through absolute hell this last year."
When Rome was found by Rosie, East Midlands Ambulance Service were called who then contacted Nottinghamshire Police. Sergeant Clarke explained that on the night before Rosie had admitted to taking cannabis and on arrival at the scene "officers observed a smell of cannabis."
Rosie gave a voluntary blood sample, and it was understood that as a regular user of cannabis the substance would have had less of an effect on her, so she was not believed to have been intoxicated the night before.
He stated: "Had we not made those enquiries that we made we may not have been able to rule things out." However, the family say that they are upset over how the police handled the investigation and were made to feel like criminals at a very traumatic time in their lives.
Glennis stated: "I came home to my property there's a lot of your officers doing what they need to do, but for me it's quite a blur and I just think that there was not enough empathy that was shown to myself and my daughter. They were treating my daughter like a criminal."
Rosie explained that she felt her son had been "failed" by the police as well as the health services and organisations that she had taken him to prior to his death. Due to his suspected allergy, Rome had been prescribed three different kinds of milk from the doctors to help him gain weight, and had also undergone a recent chest x-ray due to family concerns of his breathing when he was laying down.
A sleep study had also been organised for Rome, which would have included an oxygen saturation monitor so that his oxygen levels could be monitored overnight. Sadly this study was due to begin March 28, the day after Rome had passed away, so Rosie expressed her frustration that he "didn't get a chance" to see if the study would help.
A report from Dr Gemma Wright, an obstetrician at Queen's Medical Centre, stated: "Rome was seen by the service (Nottingham City Care) nine times since his birth in a mix of home visits and appointments."
The coroner explained that the purpose of the inquest was to "understand what happened to Rome during his life and how he came by his death" but sadly sometimes infants who appear healthy do die suddenly and unexpectedly. Speaking to the family, Coroner Didcock also stated: "I understand how angry and upset you are."
It was ruled that the medical cause of death was unattained and Coroner Didcock also provided a narrative conclusion, in which she stated: "Rome was well cared for by his mother Rosie, there was no evidence or abuse or neglect to account for his death.
"He did have a number of medical conditions in life." She added that whilst "Rosie had been drinking alcohol and smoking cannabis" which were risk factors, they did not cause Rome's death.
As Rome's death could not be classed as a natural, but an unnatural cause could not be found, it was understood that Sudden Infant Death Syndrome may be the case, which is when a baby dies without explanation. However, due to there being a number of risk factors present, such as the use of cannabis, alcohol and co-sleeping, whilst these were not thought to be causes, the presence of risk factors prevent it from being classed as SIDS.
The coroner described the death as "sudden and unexpected", and stated that his death "sadly remains unexplained." Safer sleep guidance from The Lullaby Trust, a charity that raises awareness of SIDS, advises families to make sure babies sleep on their back "for all sleeps" and they are on a firm, flat, waterproof mattress.
The Trust also states the baby should be in "a clear cot or Moses basket" with no loose bedding, pillows or toys, and that a baby should share a room for the first six months. They also advise that "you should not co-sleep with your baby if you or your partner have been drinking or taken drugs or are extremely tired."
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