Inquest into death of seven-year-old boy who ‘froze to death’ opened

An inquest into the death of a seven-year-old boy who is believed to have frozen to death began today.

Hakeem Hussain was left outside his home in Birmingham last month when he suffered cardiac arrest.  The boy's mother, Laura Heath, and his uncle, Timothy Busk, were arrested on suspicion of willfully ill-treating a minor. They have since been released from police custody. An inquest into Hussain's death began today at the Birmingham Coroner's Court. The Daily Mail reports that no members of the boy's family attended the inquest. In a statement, Birmingham City Council confirmed that Hussain was "known" to them.

"We can confirm the child was known to us and our thoughts are with those who knew and loved him.

"We are working with police and health to establish all the circumstances leading to his death. The multi-agency Birmingham Safeguarding Children Board is aware of the case and will decide whether it meets the criteria for a serious case review."

The inquest was adjourned today due to the ongoing criminal investigation into the boy's death. Hussain's postmortem came back inconclusive.