Nursery manager jailed for manslaughter after strapping baby to bean bag for being ‘too demanding’

Nine-month-old Genevieve Meehan was unlawfully killed by nursery nurse Kate Roughley (Greater Manchester Police/PA) (PA Media)

A nursery worker has been jailed for 14 years for manslaughter after she strapped a baby girl face down on a bean bag for 90 minutes because she was “too demanding”.

Nine-month-old Genevieve Meehan was also tightly swaddled and covered with a blanket by Kate Roughley, who put her in “mortal danger” with the unsafe sleeping conditions at Tiny Toes nursery in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport.

The 37-year-old deputy manager at the nursery had “persecuted” the baby, known affectionately as Gigi, for “not sleeping long enough” and failed to conduct adequate checks on the distressed infant, a trial heard.

She was found unresponsive and blue on the afternoon of 9 May 2022. Despite efforts to save her, she was pronounced dead later that day in hospital.

A jury unanimously found Roughley guilty of manslaughter by ill-treatment this week following a four-week trial at Manchester Crown Court.

Genevieve, the daughter of barrister John Meehan and solicitor Katie Wheeler, died from asphyxiation brought on by a combination of pathophysiological stresses created by a “very unsafe sleeping environment”.

Roughley put Genevieve in “mortal danger” as she was “banished” to the bean bag for earlier not sleeping long enough for her liking, the court heard.

Following the verdict, Genevieve’s parents said they would “never forgive the callousness” of Roughley for treating their daughter with “cruelty and contempt”.

Mr Meehan said: “She was entrusted with the care of our daughter, yet she put her own convenience and selfish interests above Genevieve’s life.

“She has shown no remorse for Genevieve’s death. Her expressions of sorrow during the trial were as insincere as they were insulting.

“For many, Genevieve is just a baby that was seen on CCTV or discussed in evidence during this trial. But to us she is our precious and wonderful daughter and she is not to be defined by the manner of her death.

“She was a person. She loved to laugh, to play with her tambourine, to eat spaghetti bolognese and spend time with her big sister.”

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 1.35pm to 3.12pm.

Prosecutor Peter Wright KC 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.

She was subjected to “rough handling”, said the prosecution, by Roughley, who called her “stress head” and on one occasion told her: “Genevieve go home. Do you have to be so loud and constant? Change the record.”

Roughley sang to her “stop whingeing” and “Genevieve go home. Please, I’m even asking nicely. You are driving me bananas and I’m not wearing pyjamas”.

The defence insisted that Genevieve’s death was a “terrible and unavoidable accident” and not the result of any unlawful acts.

Roughley, of Heaton Norris, Stockport, who joined Tiny Toes straight from college at the age of 18, claimed she placed Genevieve on her side and that she remained in that position, with her face visible throughout, until she made the grim discovery.

Roughley argued she made suitable and appropriate checks on Genevieve and denied that she disliked her.

It is understood a separate health and safety investigation into the now-closed Tiny Toes is ongoing.