Circumcision Horror: Baby Bled To Death After Botched Home Circumcison By Nigerian Woman

 

Only God knows what went wrong, the parents should have called for help earlier, the little boy's life may have been saved.

A four-week-old baby bled to death after a botched home circumcision by a nurse, a court heard today.

Goodluck Caubergs died the day after nurse Grace Adeleye carried out the procedure without anaesthetic and using only a pair of scissors, forceps and olive oil, Manchester Crown Court heard. The 66-year-old medic is originally from Nigeria, as is the youngster's parents, where the circumcision of newborns is the tradition for Christian families, the jury heard.

Adeleye, also a midwife, was paid £100 to do the operation as Goodluck's parents were not aware the procedure was available on the NHS. The Royal Oldham Hospital was just a mile and a half from the family home in Chadderton, Greater Manchester, but by the time an ambulance was called the child could not be saved. Adeleye, of Salford, Greater Manchester, denies manslaughter by gross negligence of the baby boy.

It is alleged she botched the procedure by leaving a "ragged" wound that bled, and her post-op care was also woefully inadequate.

Adrian Darbishire QC, opening the case for the prosecution, told the jury: "The allegation essentially here is that the care she provided in the course of that procedure was so bad that not only did it cause the death of that young baby wholly unnecessarily, but it amounted to gross negligence and a crime." Mr Darbishire said circumcisions were routinely carried out in Nigeria amongst Christian families who have brought the tradition with them to the UK, and the procedure was an "ancient, well established and widespread" practice across the world.

But the court heard that up to three children a month are admitted to the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital due to bleeding after home-based circumcisions - a danger the nurse should have been aware of.

Goodluck was born on 22 March 2010 in Rochdale and died on April 17, the day after the circumcision, aged 27 days old.

Adeleye was introduced to the family through a friend as she had performed many circumcisions over the years and offered her "experience and skill".