20 May 2024 , 19:36
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A nursery worker who strapped a nine-month-old baby face down to a beanbag and left her for 90 minutes has been found guilty of manslaughter.
Kate Roughley, 37, put Genevieve Meehan in "mortal danger" as a "punishment", the trial heard.
The child died from asphyxiation at Tiny Toes nursery in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, on 9 May 2022.
Her family said losing Genevieve had "destroyed" them and the loss was a "wound that will never heal".
A statement added: "We grieve for everything Genevieve has lost. Her life, that was so full of wonder and promise, was taken from her.
"Genevieve wasn’t just a baby, she was a person.
"She loved to laugh, to play with her tambourine, to eat Spaghetti Bolognese and to be with her big sister.
"She was kind, affectionate, independent and mischievous.
"She loved life and we loved her instantly."
During the trial, a pathologist said Genevieve had been put in a "very unsafe sleeping environment" at the nursery, and that it led to her death.
The jury heard that Genevieve had been swaddled and face down on the beanbag when she became unwell.
Roughley told the trial that the beanbag was regularly used for babies when the six cots in the room were full.
She said the straps were to stop babies falling off and they were not tight.
In his closing speech to the jury, Peter Wright KC said Roughley had "brought about" the child’s death with her "deliberate conduct".
He said: "Genevieve was being punished for her earlier perceived misdemeanours, for not sleeping long enough for her liking.
"She was being banished to the beanbag and restrained.
"It was a recipe for disaster, and disaster there followed.
’Fight for survival’
Roughley was found guilty of unlawful act manslaughter by a unanimous jury of six men and six women.
Some jurors were in tears at the start of the trial as they first watched nursery CCTV footage of the baby room which captured the tragedy unfolding as Genevieve was left "virtually immobilised" from 13:35 to 15:12 BST.
Mr Wright said the youngster’s "desperate fight for survival" was clear, but her crying and the thrashing and writhing of her body were routinely and repeatedly ignored.
Roughley paid "lip service" to any meaningful checks and Genevieve’s wellbeing until it was too late, he said.
Her actions were said to be fuelled by an "illogical and disturbing hostility" towards the youngster which was revealed on further CCTV footage from 5 and 6 May.
The prosecution said she was subjected to "rough handling" by Roughley, who told the baby: "Genevieve go home. Do you have to be so loud and constant? Change the record."
Giving evidence, Roughley admitted she appeared "impatient" on the CCTV footage.
She said she sang songs or made up rhymes about some babies, and Genevieve in particular, to "entertain them".
The jury was told that she sang: "Genevieve, Genevieve, stop your whingeing, Genevieve" on one occasion.
And on another, Genevieve rolled over on her side and Ms Roughley picked her up, saying, "Sit up properly, stress head".
She told the court there was "no malice in it" and that was "just a throwaway comment".
Roughley, who had 17 years experience in nursery work, said she treated Genevieve no differently from any other child.
She claimed she had placed Genevieve to sleep on her side as she had wanted to settle a cough she had.
It was not out of character for the baby to be "kicking her legs" and "tossing and turning" and she had made appropriate checks on her, Roughley added.
She maintained that Genevieve’s death was a "terrible, unavoidable accident" and denied she had "persecuted" the youngster, adding: "I would never not like a nine-month-old baby."
Roughley told the court that the ratio of staff to children at the nursery "gradually worsened" during her time at Tiny Toes.
The trial heard in April and May 2022 the staff to children ratios at the nursery were at various times one to nine, two to 11, two to 13 and one to 16.
Defence barrister Sarah Elliott KC told jurors that Roughley was paid "£11 to £11.50 per hour" in May 2022.
The nursery’s owners, Franck and Karen Pell, who were "like family" to Roughley, were making an "awful lot of money" from the business, she said.
Ms Elliott added: "There is no sign of them now."
Tiny Toes was closed down in the months following Genevieve’s death.
A nursery, owned and managed by a different company, operates in the building now.
Roughley will be sentenced on Wednesday.
’Complete disregard’
Genevieve’s family added they "grieve for what we do not have".
"We are so desperate for her to be in our arms as she should be and watching her put on her school uniform in September when she would have started pre-school.
"Instead, we are here in a place we could never have imagined when we took her to nursery that day on 9 May where she was meant to be safe and cared for.
"The pain of her loss is beyond any measure."
Speaking after the guilty verdict was returned, Karen Tonge from Crown Prosecution Service North West said Genevieve’s life had been "cruelly cut short".
CCTV showed Roughley’s "complete lack of care and tenderness" towards her, she said.
"For some inexplicable reason, Kate Roughley had taken a dislike to Genevieve, and this was clear for all to hear and see."
She said Roughley had been "entrusted to take care of Genevieve" and it was "difficult to comprehend how someone in such a position of trust could have such a complete disregard for a child’s wellbeing and life".