Baby, toddler stabbed to death in Manchester

A 21-year-old woman was being held on suspicion of murder today after the bodies of a baby and a toddler were found at a house…

A 21-year-old woman was being held on suspicion of murder today after the bodies of a baby and a toddler were found at a house in Manchester.

The three-month-old baby and the child of three - both boys - were discovered at a property in the Cheetham Hill area of Greater Manchester yesterday evening.

The Manchester Evening Newsreported that the children received fatal stab wounds to the chest.

A Greater Manchester Police spokesman refused to confirm or deny the report.

Forensic experts are currently carrying out a detailed examination of the property.

Police later said they had already been called to the house yesterday afternoon after receiving information from someone who was "concerned for the welfare of a family".

"No one was at the address so officers searched the nearby area and made significant further efforts to trace the residents. They were not able to trace the residents," a police statement said.

The police spokesman said the checks included a visit to a grandparent of the children, but there was no one there either.

"While we were making these inquiries we got a 999 call which suggested that the children were back in the house, dead."

The matter has now been passed to the Independent Police Complaints Commission to investigate.