Nursery death caused by unsafe sleeping, jury told

Kate Roughley denies manslaughter and an alternative count of child cruelty

A baby girl who died at a nursery had been “put into a very unsafe sleeping environment” which led to her death, a jury has been told.

Kate Roughley, 37, denies the manslaughter by ill-treatment of nine-month-old Genevieve Meehan at Tiny Toes Nursery in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport.

Manchester Crown Court previously heard Genevieve had been strapped to a beanbag on her front and left for 90 minutes.

Dr Philip Lumb, the pathologist who carried out the baby’s post-mortem examination, told the court her sleeping arrangements were “in my opinion, responsible for her death”.

He said Genevieve died from a combination of “asphyxiation and the pathophysiological stress” of the sleeping environment.

The jury heard it would have been a “struggle” for Genevieve to breathe in the position she was placed in.

Dr Lumb said there were signs of grazing and reddening around her mouth and chin.

He told the jury that he believed Genevieve died from “asphyxia imparted by upper airway obstruction” and added that the stress of struggling to breathe and overheating led to her death.

‘Constantly checking’

The jury also saw footage from a police officer’s body-worn camera at the Tiny Toes Nursery on 9 May, 2022, the day Genevieve died.

Ms Roughley, of Heaton Norris in Stockport, was seen telling the police officer she was “obviously constantly checking” the babies in her care and had gone “every three to four minutes”.

She also said she had been checking more often on Genevieve as she had been poorly and was recently in hospital with bronchiolitis, a common condition in infants.

Genevieve was taken to Stepping Hill Hospital where she was pronounced dead shortly after 16:00 BST.

The jury previously saw CCTV of Genevieve struggling and crying on the bean bag, until she fell silent at 14.23 and a minute later she moved for the final time.

Sarah Elliott KC, representing Ms Roughley, earlier said the defence would argue that the death “was a terrible and unavoidable accident”.

Ms Roughley denies manslaughter and an alternative count of child cruelty.

The trial continues.

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