Death of football manager Steve Bruce's infant grandson leads to calls for urgent action

A coroner has called for action after the death of baby Madison Bruce Smith, who died after he was placed in an "unsafe sleeping position" in his cot by an unregulated maternity nurse.

The four-month-old grandson of football manager Steve Bruce was found unresponsive by his father, ex-Leeds United and Fulham striker Matt Smith, on the morning of 18 October 2024.

Madison could not be resuscitated at the family home in Trafford, Greater Manchester, and was taken to Wythenshawe Hospital where he was pronounced dead by paramedics.

Mr Smith and his wife, Bruce's daughter Amy, had employed Eva Clements through a company named Ruthie Maternity Services after their son had difficulties sleeping in the afternoons.

They believed Ms Clements was skilled, fully trained and vetted, and that the company was a well-established maternity and sleep support service, but Stockport Coroner's Court heard that neither was regulated.

In a short, narrative conclusion, senior coroner for south Manchester, Alison Mutch, said: "Madison died in circumstances where his cause of death could not be ascertained while asleep in his cot having been placed in a prone and unsafe sleeping position."

She said the "purported expertise" of untrained people posed a risk to all children where those unregulated services were used.

Issuing a prevention of future deaths report to the Secretary of State for Health, she said: "I hope the services can be regulated and, going forward, parents are not left in a situation where they believe they are employing someone who is qualified to advise them when they are clearly unqualified."

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Source: Sky News, 24 March 2026