Woman charged with murder of baby and assault of a one-year-old girl

The baby died in Hapton last year

Author: Chris MaskeryPublished 5th Jul 2023

A 61-year-old woman has been charged with murder after the death of a baby in Hapton last March.

Police have also charged Karen Foster of no fixed address with a separate assult on a one-year-old girl in 2019.

Lancashire Police have confirmed that Foster is not related to either of the two victims and the two children are not related to one another.

What happened in Hapton?

Police say they were called around 1.20pm on March 1 last year to an address in the village following reports a baby boy had suffered a medical episode.

Emergency services attended and the child, aged nine-and-a-half months, was taken to hospital for treatment, however he sadly died on March 5.

In March, a 60-year-old woman from Haslingden and a 78-year-old man from Burnley were arrested on suspicion of Section 18 Assault and were subsequently arrested on suspicion of murder after further enquiries.

The 78-year-old man has been released without charge but yesterday the woman, Karen Foster was charged with the baby’s murder.

She was also charged with a separate assault on a one-year-old girl in Hapton on March 22, 2019

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