Distraught mum left 'broken' by tragic death of baby boy who suffocated when sleeping dad rolled on top of him

On the night of September 5 2019, 30-year-old Holly Hamer received a text message showing her four-month-old son sleeping soundly in his car seat.

Just a few hours later, little Isaac was dead.

A court heard how, shortly after putting Isaac in a double bed, his dad Brooklyn Newton smoked cannabis and fell asleep by his side. He awoke at 5.55am to find his son cold and lifeless with blood coming out of his nose.

A pathologist found the cause of death was overlaying, which occurs when the weight is placed on top of a child, obstructing the child's breathing.

But for seven months Holly, of Crompton Court, Preston, had no idea how her son died, and only learned the truth when she received a letter from the coroner in April.

She said: “For seven months, I didn’t know anything. I feel like I can’t trust anyone. Police, doctors, social services - they all knew, and they never told me.

“I don’t even know what I’m doing most days. I’m a broken mess. I don’t even go out of the house.

"The day Isaac died, I woke up at 6am and I saw the police driving slowly down the street. When they came to the door I thought they were coming about Brooklyn. They said it's your son, Isaac - he's deceased."

Holly said she collapsed when she heard the news, and was so distressed she was unable to dress herself and had to be helped by a police officer.

Isaac was her 'miracle baby' - born after four miscarriages.

"They wouldn't speak to me all the way there. When we got to the hospital I had to wait outside for half an hour. I just wanted to see my son," she said.

"When I got in there, he didn't even look like my son. His face was black. Nobody would tell me what had happened. He had blood coming out of his nose and his eyes were sunken.

"I wasn't allowed to touch him or hold him. Brooklyn was, but I wasn't."

Following Isaac's death, Holly rekindled her relationship with Newton - unaware of what had occurred that fateful night.

She believed her baby had suffered a cot death.

Newton, of Egerton Road, Blackpool, later turned violent, punching, kicking and spitting on her. The 21-year-old received a six-week suspended jail sentence after pleading guilty to assault at Preston Magistrates’ Court on December 13.

And Holly was hit with further heartbreak as she suffered another miscarriage at 15 weeks, two months after losing Isaac. The baby, called Eli, was laid to rest alongside his brother at Preston cemetery.

"I've lost two boys," she said. "I've had to bury two of my children."

She suffered post-traumatic stress and has been unable to return to her job as an army steward.

She said: “I don’t know what to do without Isaac. I feel guilty I let him go that night. If I hadn’t, he wouldn’t be dead. I don’t think I’ll ever stop crying.”

POLICE SAID...

“The police promptly visited mother face to face on the morning of death. We spoke with mother at Blackpool Victoria Hospital that morning and provided her with as much detail known at the time into the tragic circumstances surrounding baby Isaac's death.

“Both parents were subsequently supported with specially trained family liaison officers and a sudden and unexpected deaths in childhood nurse, who kept direct contact with the parents throughout the investigation. The officers were in a position to answer any questions the parents had throughout this investigation in consultation with the senior investigating officer.

“One of the purposes of an inquest is to provide HM Coroner with all the facts to allow them to reach a conclusion regarding the circumstances of death. The police must be careful not to provide any information to any interested parties which may otherwise prejudice the findings of the inquest."