Mother with ‘toxic’ alcohol problem passed out and suffocated five-month-old daughter

A Merseyside mum has appeared in court in Switzerland after drinking so much she passed out and suffocated her five-month-old child – two years after she lost another baby who died in similar circumstances.

Claire Ross, 39, formerly of St Helens, Merseyside, sobbed in court as she was tried for negligent homicide in Nyon this week after the death of her five-month-old daughter in July 2020.

Ross, who the court heard has a ‘toxic’ problem with alcohol and is mentally unwell, passed out drunk in bed with her babies on both occasions. 

Her five-month-old daughter died from suffocation just two years after Ross lost a two-month-old child after also passing out drunk – although the cause of death of this infant is unknown.

Claire Ross was arrested for being four and a half times over the drink-drive limit after she stopped on the M62 because of a tyre blow-out in 2017 (Pictured: Ross outside Liverpool Magistrates’ Court)

Her six year-old daughter heard her baby sister making sounds of distress and managed to get her out from under her passed-out mother’s body

Due to the possibility of death from natural causes, criminal charges were dropped following the tragic death in 2018. 

Ross, who shows signs of Borderline Personality Disorder, and her family moved to Prangins near the Swiss town of Nyon several years ago, where her husband had secured a job. 

But she continued to struggle with a crippling alcohol addiction which had been an issue since at least 2017, before awaking in 2018 after drinking to find her two-month old baby dead in bed with her.

According to Swiss media reports, prosecutors in Switzerland launched an investigation but it was dropped after a clear cause of death could not be determined, leaving open the possibility the baby died of natural causes such as Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

Ross and her husband then welcomed another baby in February 2020.

One day in July 2020, Ross drank so heavily she needed to go to bed.

The court heard she put the TV on for her eldest daughter, then six, and went to bed with her five-month old. 

According to Swiss prosecutors, she was so drunk she passed out on the bed with her body on top of the baby’s.

Her six-year-old daughter was alerted by sounds of distress from her baby sister, but could not wake her mother. 

The girl managed to free her sister and placed her in a pram, before running to get help from a neighbour.

The neighbour called the emergency services and the baby was rushed to hospital, where it was pronounced dead a short time later. Autopsy reports gave the cause of death as suffocation. 

Ross was later charged with negligent homicide at the district court in Nyon. 

The court heard even after the death of the second baby, Ross was caught drink driving again in August 2020.

During the hearing, prosecutor Jean-Marie Ruede told the court the death of the five-month-old girl was a ‘a remake in all respects’ of the death of the first baby in 2018.

He said psychiatric reports showed Ross ‘drowns her mental ill-being’ with heavy drinking.

Her solicitor, Patrick Sutter, argued due to her mental health problems she should not be held criminally responsible for the death of her baby.

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The court heard that psychiatrists had found Ross showed signs of borderline personality disorder and had a ‘toxic relationship’ with alcohol. 

Mr Sutter told the court Ross had been failed by mental health services and he was ‘convinced’ that if a diagnosis had been made in 2018 the tragedy of 2020 could have been avoided.

Mr Reude for the prosecution also criticised the lack of a referral to social services after the death of the first baby.

Ross was asked to address the court, telling the judges: ‘I understood and accepted that I had no control over alcohol’. 

Speaking in English, she said she had been sober since October 2020, and that ‘peace’ had returned to her family, even if ‘the reconstruction phase’ was not yet over.

The court heard Ross had since become a mother for a fourth time, although the baby was removed from her care and she currently has supervised visits. 

Her eldest daughter was also removed from her care following the 2020 incident, but has since been returned to the family. 

The mother’s severe alcohol abuse was first reported on while the family remained in the UK in 2017.

She appeared before Liverpool Magistrate’s Court after driving on the M62 with her toddler in the car, while four and half times over the legal limit.

During the journey, a tyre burst, forcing her to stop on the hard-shoulder, where officers came to assist her. 

Judges are set to deliver their verdict and any sentence on Tuesday.

Ross, who moved to the town from Bargate Water, St Helens, appeared in the ECHO in 2017 after being convicted over a shocking drink-driving case involving another child.

Lynn Clark, prosecuting that case, told the court the officers ‘immediately noticed an overwhelming smell of alcohol, and noted her eyes were bloodshot and glazed, and that she was slurring her words. 

‘They formed the opinion she was drunk, although she denied she had been drinking.

Ross told the officers that her then three-year-old daughter was in the back seat, although when they checked there was nobody else in the car. 

It later emerged her husband, Ian Ross, had already driven to the scene and collected the girl before leaving his wife to wait for the breakdown services.

Claire Ross, who told the officers ‘I’m not a bad person’, was also found to have vomited in a bag which was found in the front of the vehicle. 

Ross claimed she had still been drunk from the night before when she drank wine with a friend, but the court heard a witness statement from the friend who suggested Ross seemed ‘fine to drive’ when she left.

She also claimed the extremely high reading on the police breath tests was because she had been drinking vodka while waiting for the breakdown services – a claim disputed by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Ross pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol. Neil Davies, defending, said his client was of ‘exceptional character’ and was ‘devastated’ by the incident. 

He told the court: ‘At the time a letter from her GP shows she had received treatment after suffering from depression. I have asked her and she says she sought solace in this case by drinking to excess.’

She was sentenced to 10 weeks in prison, suspended for 18 months, and referred to the Probation Service for five rehabilitation activity days. 

It was after this incident that the family moved to Switzerland. 

Judges are set to deliver their verdict and any sentence on Tuesday.