THE parents of a newborn baby who died after a surgeon carried out a needless op have told of the agony at taking their baby “home in a coffin”.

Paul Mitchelhill was just a day old when Emmanuel Towuaghanste – known as Dr Towu – carried out the procedure on his stomach to “prove a point”.

The tot started to deteriorate after the op, but Dr Towu didn’t check on him for hours and by the time he did it was too late.

Coroner Karen Dilks said yesterday if he acted sooner “on balance Paul would have survived”. She referred the case to the General Medical Council.

Blasting the doc’s actions, expert witness and retired paediatric surgeon Simon Huddart told the hearing: “A locum surgeon of one month as a consultant and performing this surgery has a feeling of trying to prove a point.”

And little Paul’s heartbroken parents added: “We faced the horror of losing our first baby boy and the trauma of him arriving home in a coffin.”

Paul was born at Carlisle’s Cumberland Infirmary on October 21, 2013, but was transferred to Newcastle’s Great North Children’s Hospital after he was found to have suffered an abdominal wall defect called an exomphalos.

Internal organs develop inside the umbilical cord rather than the abdomen but the condition is treatable.

It can be fixed by a “conservative” or “staged” treatment, but Dr Towu opted for immediate major surgery.

Paul died in his mother Irene’s arms a few hours later, aged just two days.

Police were called in and a manslaughter investigation through gross negligence was launched but no criminal action was taken against the surgeon.

Dr Towu apologised to Paul’s parents at the inquest but defended his decision to carry out the op. He blamed intensive care staff for the death.

Surgeon Bruce Jaffray, now the head of the unit where Paul died, blasted Dr Towu at the inquest.

He said Paul’s tragic loss was “an avoidable death” and added that Dr Towu appeared to have “no inkling” of the situation’s gravity.

He said: “He seemed to me to be evading his role and responsibility and seemed to be passing the blame for what happened to intensive care staff.

Parents Paul, 37, and Irene, 33, called for an unlawful killing verdict at the Newcastle inquest. A narrative verdict was recorded.

Mr and Mrs Mitchelhill, who now have a three-year-old daughter, said in a statement after the hearing: “As a result of the failure by Mr Towu to recognise how sick Paul was nothing was done until it was too late.

“Paul died the day after his surgery and we came home without our son having only held him for the first time as he was dying.

They added: “This ruined a particularly happy time in our family’s lives as we were also expecting the birth of our nephew who was due on the same day as Paul. We love him very much but he is a constant reminder of our loss.

“We hope lessons have been learned as a result of Paul’s death and are pleased to note that the Trust has put measures into place to make it easier for others to challenge other colleague’s decisions and in particular locum staff.

“The evidence we have heard has included that Mr Towu had not kept log books about his experience and it was difficult to determine if he had ever performed this operation before.

“We hope the GMC will take action to ensure that doctors are fully vetted and have up to date log books to prevent this happening again.”

Solicitor Lynda Reynolds from law firm Hugh James, who represented parents Paul and Irene Mitchelhill, said: “The family have endured a long wait for resolution of this tragic matter while GMC and police investigations have been ongoing.”

Lynda added: “The family have had to not only deal with these terrible events, but have also continued to have to fight for their voice to be heard since newborn Paul passed away in 2013.

“They were initially refused Legal Aid to fund representation at the inquest and only after an appeal were they granted a 50 per cent contribution towards their legal costs. The Legal Aid Agency contends it is ‘reasonable’ for the family to contribute towards their legal expenses.”

“Without specialist representation getting to the truth and understanding what went wrong and achieving some accountability for the loss of loved ones is impossible.

“This is quite apart from the fact that public funds have been used to provide legal representation for the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals Trust. The current circumstances create an unequal playing field, leaving the family with limited resources to fully participate in the inquest and investigation.”

Lynda concluded: “Hugh James will be continuing to work with the family as the GMC investigation progresses.”