10 month-old baby died in fire after mum left her home alone

A 10-month-old girl died when a fire ripped through her Bradford house after her mum left her home alone for ten minutes while she took her son to school, an inquest heard today.

Laiba Ahmed was left to sleep following a restless night while her mother made the half-mile round trip to the nearby school to drop off her four-year-old on May 13 last year.

But when Naila Bashir, 26, returned to the house in Lidget Green she noticed smoke pouring out of the boiler vent near the back door. Experts believe the fire was caused by a short circuit on a food processor.

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The hearing was told how the hysterical mother-of-three summoned a neighbour for help but they couldn't get to Laiba through the dense smoke.

Firefighters finally managed to get Laiba out but she died at Leeds General Infirmary four days later.

The Bradford inquest heard that Mrs Bashir usually took her young daughter to her mother's house while she made the trip to school.

Det Con Julie Tiplady, of West Yorkshire Police, had interviewed her a couple of days after the incident.

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She said: "She did come across as very distressed throughout the interview and blamed herself for leaving her child.

"She did say it was not normal of her to leave her but the child was ill and she described in detail her normal routine.

"She explained to me that at the time of the fire she had taken her child to school.

"Naila explained her normal daily routine was to get up in the morning, she would take Laiba to her mum's house while she takes her son to school, not on this occasion."

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PC Andrew Riley was one of the first on the scene. He told the court that about a minute after he arrived a fire officer came out of the house carrying a baby.

As his colleague went with the girl he spoke to Mrs Bashir, who was in an ambulance.

"She said 'I've taken my son to school, she was asleep only a few minutes. I came back and the house was on fire'.

"I asked her if the baby was in her own and she said yes", said PC Riley. He said police carried out a criminal investigation but no charges were brought.

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At the time of the incident, Mrs Bashir's sister, Abida Bashir, said her sister had taken her four-year-old son to Horton Grange Primary School. She said: "I do not know why she left her today. She probably thought it's only down the road. She has not left her on her own before.

"I was surprised the baby was on her own. Naila said the baby was asleep and she did not want to disturb her and she said it only takes a minute.

"Their children mean everything to them. My sister is a good mum. She spends lots of time with her children."

The deadly blaze is believed to have originated in the kitchen, possibly started by an electrical fault in a food processor that had been left plugged in earlier that morning when Laiba's father Ibrar Ahmed and his brother had made breakfast before heading to work.

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Station manager Chris Clarke, of West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Fire Investigation Team said: "I believe the cause of fire was an electrical fault in the food processor."

He added to the court that he food processor was the only appliance that showed the switch in the on position.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, deputy coroner Tim Ratcliffe said: "She sadly died from the smoke that was caused by a fire in the house that morning.

"I find that the fire was started accidentally, it is not entirely clear how it was caused but appears it was caused by a faulty device."

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Kairen Sanderson, home safety manager for the north of England for Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, said at the time of the accident:

"Babies should never be left alone in the house even if you intend only popping out for a very short time. You should always take the baby with you."

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