Mum tried to get help for partner who killed their baby by throwing him in river

‘He was the most beautiful baby boy,’ his mother told an inquest

Zakari Bennett-Eko, aged 11 months, died when his father Zak Eko threw him into the River Irwell in Radcliffe. (Greater Manchester Police / SWNS)

The mother of an 11-month-old boy tried to get his father help from medical professionals before he killed their son by throwing him into a river, an inquest has heard.

Zakari Bennett-Eko was in the River Irwell in Radcliffe, Greater Manchester, for 45 minutes before medics recovered him. The emergency services were unable to revive him.

He died from hypothermia and/or drowning while immersed in the freezing waters, a pathologist told Rochdale Coroner’s Court.

The baby had also sustained a fractured leg in the days before he died, a post mortem found.

His father, Zak Eko, 23, was convicted of manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility and was detained in hospital.

Tributes to Zakari line a bridge in Radcliffe town centre, Greater Manchester, over the River Irwell. (SWNS)

From September 2014 to February 2016, Eko had been sectioned and detained at Prestwich Hospital with psychosis.

He was deemed to have been doing well when released, the court heard, and in 2018 was discharged by the Early Intervention Service.

But Emma Blood, Zakari’s mother, said she was completely unaware of her partner’s history of hospitalisation due to mental illness when they entered a relationship in 2017.

She was not warned or advised by health or social services about Eko, she told the court, and had no concerns over his mental wellbeing in the early days of their relationship.

“The relationship was good at first and we spent a lot of time together, although I was aware he suffered from mental illness,” Ms Blood told the inquest.

“He said he had suffered from psychosis, which was drug-induced, in the past and he took medication for it.

“I didn’t really understand what psychosis was. He said he had ADHD. I did not know he had schizophrenia.”

Three months after the birth of Zakari, Ms Blood fell pregnant again - this time with their daughter. She told the inquest Eko was pleased to hear the news, but then his behaviour began to change.

He would go to the GP to pick up the prescription for his medication, but “he just didn’t want to take it,” she said.

“He was acting strangely, he was always disappearing and causing problems within the family. He would act like he was depressed then he would be okay the next minute. It was like he was faking it.”

She also said her partner had been violent toward her on one occasion. “We argued about something and he slapped me,” she told the coroner.

Pharmacist Sham Iqbal told the inquest between January and May 2019 his pharmacy had dispensed the anti-psychotic medication.

He added that no “red flags” were raised when the medication was not dispensed to him from May to September 2019 as he could have obtained his prescription elsewhere.

By August that year, Ms Blood discovered he had not actually been picking up the medication. Eko eventually confessed to her he had stopped taking it.

She then told the inquest that he then began lying to people in her family and causing various problems. Ms Blood said she did not know whether he was ill or just attention-seeking.

On one occasion, Eko called Manchester children’s services claiming Ms Blood had assaulted him.

When a police officer visited their home, however, he said he had fabricated the allegation of assault because he did not like where they were living and wanted to move.

She spoke of another incident when Mr Eko did not sleep for five days in a row, instead staying up to watch YouTube videos of Beyonce - whom he claimed was his mother.

His real mother had died, the court heard, and Eko has previously been charged with assaulting her by stamping on her head.

By August 2019, as his behaviour became more erratic and he kept threatening to kill himself, Ms Blood said she “didn’t want to be with him anymore,” adding: “It was just too much. He was going around slagging me off to everyone.

“I didn’t like him anymore. He was just a horrible person.”

Eko eventually went to live with his grandmother, but she was unable to cope and Ms Blood was asked if she would allow him to stay with her again.

The court heard that she then attempted to get help from medical professionals over the phone, but she said no one would speak to her about him.

On 3 September 2019, she and Zakari accompanied Eko to the accident and emergency department at North Manchester General Hospital.

“Afterwards they invited me into the room and said he was depressed because he had lost his mother,” she said.

“They just advised him to go home and take his medication. They didn’t ask to speak to me alone at that point.”

She added the worker who saw Eko seemed to be in a hurry for them to leave.

“He said he could go home, take his meds and he would be fine,” she said.

But days later, Zakari died.

In the couple of days before his death, Ms Blood said Eko had seemed to be acting normally. On 11 September, she was upstairs at home while Eko played with Zakari in the living room. But when she went downstairs, the pair had left.

Upon hearing a disturbance, Ms Blood initially believed the baby’s father had killed himself.

Police investigator Duncan Thorpe told the inquest Eko had gone to the river and thrown the baby into the water before going to sit in the pub, where he was arrested.

In an interview, he claimed he had been told to throw the baby into the water by other people, coroner Joanne Kearsley was told.

The inquest continues.