British woman held by French police over baby's death

A British woman is being questioned by French police after her five-month old baby was found dead at their holiday home.
 The child’s father discovered the lifeless body in a bed on Saturday morning and called the emergency services to the gite at Saint-Pée-sur-Nivelle near Bayonne in the Basque region.

Paramedics were unable to revive the child. A doctor, who was called to the scene, declared it was not a “natural death”.

The woman, who has not been named, and her partner had spent a week at the gite with their two children, the eldest aged three, and were due to leave on Saturday afternoon.

According to French reports , the father got up early on Saturday morning and left the bedroom where the family was sleeping together in the same bed. When the mother, who is in her 30s, rose at 9am, her partner discovered the baby was dead and called the police. 

 Marc Mariée, the deputy public prosecutor at Bayonne, said “The suspicious death of a baby was confirmed at the scene.” He added that the police inquiry “very quickly moved towards the mother, who was taken into police custody in the morning. This custody has been extended.”

A postmorten examination is to be carried out in the next few days.