11 October 2023 , 08:55
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A woman murdered a baby she had just adopted after shaking the child so forcefully it was comparable to a car crash, a jury has been told.
Katie Tidmarsh, 39, is accused of attacking little Ruby Thompson at her home in Leicester before she died in hospital days later having never regained consciousness. Damage to her brain and spine were discovered, and prosecutor Jonas Hankin KC told the jurors at Leicester Crown Court that the injuries were caused by Tidmarsh shaking the helpless infant.
Two previous injuries, found after Ruby's death, were both to her upper right arm. One was a fracture caused some months before her death, and the other was a tear in her bone lining caused by a twisting injury about two weeks before, LeicesterLive report.
Mr Hankin said both were caused by Tidmarsh, which she denies. Mr Hankin also told the jury what Tidmarsh claimed had happened at the family home in Pickwell Close, Glenfield, Leicester, two days before Ruby's death in 2012.
He said: "Mrs Tidmarsh says Ruby had been sitting on the floor when suddenly Ruby's eyes rolled up and she flopped backwards, hitting her head on the rug, and that she became limp, lifeless and unable to breathe. She called out to her husband, Michael, who was out mowing the lawn. At 9.56am the emergency services were called."
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He said Leicestershire Police arrived first and decided to rush Ruby to hospital instead of waiting for the ambulance. The tot was not breathing, but was successfully resuscitated at the infirmary and treated in the intensive care unit. However, she remained in a coma and died on the afternoon of Monday, August 13, 2012.
Ruby had suffered "severe traumatic injuries" including a large, star-shaped fracture on the back of her skull, bleeding in her brain and in her spinal canal. Mr Hankin said experts from a range of medical backgrounds were involved in the investigation into Ruby's death. "They examined the medical evidence in this case and, based on their experience and the academic literature, they are of one voice.
"[They agree that] the history of a minor, low-level fall does not explain the nature of the injuries seen, which were like those from a high-energy trauma such as a road traffic accident. The only plausible explanation is an undisclosed assault inflicted immediately prior to, and causing, Ruby's collapse."
The jury heard about Ruby's earlier life. She was born in the back of an ambulance in Leicester on Saturday, July 23, 2011. She was immediately taken away from her biological parents because of neglect suffered by their other children. She spent her first months with a foster couple before being adopted by Katie and Michael Tidmarsh in March 2012, when she was about seven months old.
However, Mr Hankin said Tidmarsh withheld important information from the adoption panel to get approval to adopt a baby. Mrs Tidmarsh had married her husband in 2005. They put themselves forward to the adoption service in 2009 because they were unable to conceive, the jury heard. To be accepted by Leicester City Council as adoptive parents they went through a "detailed and exacting process," Mr Hankin said.
In her signed declaration in September 2011, Tidmarsh said her mental and emotional health was "very stable", but the following month she went to see her GP about "severe anxiety and panic attacks", Mr Hankin said. She was put on anti-depressants and signed off work for two weeks.
Two weeks later she went back to her GP due to more anxiety. Her anti-depressants dose was doubled, and she was also put on Diazepam - formerly sold as Valium - and signed off work for another two weeks.
However, she went for the final panel interview in November 2011 and failed to disclose any of her mental health problems, the court was told. Mr Hankin said: "Disclosure would most likely have led to a further period of assessment about her suitability". Instead, the couple passed the final panel interview and they took Ruby home on Thursday, March 8, 2012.
During the trial, which is expected to last up to five weeks, the jury will hear from experts and the health visitor who checked on Ruby during the foster period, Mr Hankin said. The jurors will also hear from the foster parents who had seven years' experience and had looked after Ruby for the first months of her life.
Mr Hankin said the foster parents reported that Ruby "was a happy, contented child and the easiest baby they had ever had". He added: "She reached all developmental milestones and passed all health assessments." He said Ruby suffered no accidents in her time with the foster couple.
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Tidmarsh, now of Station Road, Littlethorpe, was charged with murder in July of last year, pleading not guilty at her first court appearance. She denies murder and two counts of assault occasioning grievous bodily harm. The trial continues.