A Nigerian nurse based in the UK has been jailed for three years after leaving her ten-week-old baby to go to work.

The convict, identified as Ruth Auta, 28, left her baby without a childminder in her nurse’s accommodation for eight hours so she could work her shift on December 20, 2022.

According to Mail Online, when she returned from work, she found her son lifeless in his cot and dialled 999, telling operators her son was not breathing.

The infant was pronounced dead an hour later, with tests showing he may have ‘overheated’ due to the layers of clothing and bedding he was wrapped in.

Auta initially told the police that she had collected Joshua from a childminder after she finished work, took him back home, fed him, placed him on her bed, and then fell asleep next to him.

She claimed that when she woke up, she found him unresponsive.

Later in her police interview, Auta gave no comment to questions asked and was freed on bail pending further investigation.

However, Auta was charged after police found CCTV of her leaving and entering her accommodation without Joshua on the day of the tragedy.

Officers also discovered incriminating texts in which she urged her childminder to say she was looking after Joshua that day.

The childminder told officers she had not seen the infant for a number of days.

Auta was charged with cruelty to a child and pleaded guilty at Manchester Magistrates’ court on May 24, 2024, with her case adjourned by a month for sentence.

On June 6, the nurse who worked at Royal Bolton Hospital tried to flee the country. But was detained at Gatwick while attempting to board the flight to Nigeria, having purchased a one-way ticket.

Auta was sentenced to three years in jail when she appeared at Bolton Crown Court on 10 September.