Police investigate death of newborn baby at women’s prison

A newborn baby has died at Britain’s largest women’s prison.

Vicky Robinson, director at HMP Bronzefield in Ashford, Surrey, confirmed that a woman at the jail gave birth to the baby on Friday September 27 but it did not survive.

She said the prison, which is managed by Sodexo Justice Services, is supporting the mother and carrying out a full review.

South East Coast Ambulance Service said it was called by the prison just after 8.30am last Friday and an ambulance crew attended the scene.

Surrey Police said it was investigating the incident to find out what happened.

Ms Robinson said: “We can confirm that a woman at HMP Bronzefield gave birth on 27 September but sadly the baby did not survive. We are supporting the mother through this distressing time and our thoughts are with her, her family and our staff involved.

“We are undertaking a full review and working with all relevant authorities during their investigations. It would not be appropriate to comment any further.”

A Surrey Police spokesman said: “We were called to HMP Bronzefield at 9.07am on Friday September 27 following reports of the death of a child.

“The death is currently being treated as unexplained and an investigation is continuing to establish the full circumstances of what happened.”