Police smash way into locked car to rescue baby - which turns out to be a doll

Lifelike: A police officer holds the doll mistakenly thought to be a real baby
West Midlands Police/PA Wire
Jason Collie30 September 2015

Police smashed their way into a locked car to rescue a trapped baby only to discover it was actually an "extremely lifelike" doll.

The officers from West Midlands Police had been called to Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley, after receiving reports of an abandoned infant.

The force said it was feared that a vulnerable mother had left a baby wrapped tightly in a blanket with its face and arms covered - in the car on purpose.

Checks were made to trace the owner of the Vauxhall Corsa during the incident on the morning of September 14, but a constable and sergeant were left with no choice but to break a small rear window.

But it turned out to a doll called Ryan, left in the vehicle by 10-year-old Jamaih Rattray when she and sister Delesia, 20, had gone to visit their mum Carole Johnson in the hospital.

Delesia said whilst the doll was lifelike, the hands, which were visible, and feet should have tipped off officers it was not a baby.

Chief Inspector Phil Dolby, from Dudley Police, said: "Two of my officers did the right thing when faced with what they genuinely believed was a baby, alone and critically ill in a locked car on the hospital's car park.

"The colouration of the head appeared discoloured, giving the highly experienced officers additional cause for alarm.

"Efforts were made to trace the owner of the car. But believing this was a genuine emergency, they broke a window to investigate further.

How the 'baby' appeared to officers
West Midlands Police/PA Wire

"There's no suggestion that the doll was placed in a deliberate effort to waste police time so we will of course pay for the damage caused.

"I apologise to the owner of the car who knows the reasons why my officers took the action they did.

"She will hopefully agree that had it have been a baby in distress and had they not acted, they would be subject of this scrutiny for all the wrong reasons."

Additional reporting by the Press Association

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