Mother’s heartbreaking final words to baby daughter when dropping her off at nursery where she died
Genevieve Meehan died after she was strapped face down to a bean bag at Tiny Toes Nursery, court heard
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The heartbreaking final words a mother said to her baby daughter as she dropped her off at the nursery where she died have been revealed in court.
Nine-month-old Genevieve Meehan died after she was strapped face down to a bean bag on the afternoon of 9 May 2022 at the Tiny Toes Nursery in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, a court heard.
She was found unresponsive and blue by Kate Roughley, 37, who is accused of manslaughter by ill-treatment of the baby girl.
The defendant is said to have placed the youngster face down, tightly swaddled and fastened to a bean bag with a harness for more than 90 minutes.
Staff and then paramedics attempted to revive Genevieve, known affectionately to her family as Gigi, but her condition was irreversible and she was pronounced dead later that day in hospital.
On Thursday, jurors at Manchester Crown Court were read a number of witness statements from Genevieve’s mother, Katie Wheeler.
She said Genevieve was “bright, alert and her normal mischievous self” on the morning of her death before her partner, John Meehan, drove them to Tiny Toes with their daughter wearing a blue T-shirt with the words “Marais is the best district in Paris”.
As her partner waited in the car Ms Wheeler dropped off her daughter inside and told her: “I love you sweetie.”
In his statement, Mr Meehan said he received a phone call from Ms Wheeler just hours later at 3.15pm on 9 May as he was heading to collect Genevieve’s elder sister from school. He said: “Katie told me she had a phone call from the nursery and Genevieve had been found unresponsive and blue, and an ambulance was on its way to the nursery.”
He said he was waiting outside A&E at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport when the ambulance arrived. “A paramedic opened the doors of the ambulance and I could see CPR was being conducted on Genevieve,” he said. Doctors and nurses attempted to revive Genevieve but she was pronounced dead at 4.09pm, the court was told.
Ms Wheeler explained she and Mr Meehan wanted to send their daughter to another nursery but it was full and eventually decided on Tiny Toes following positive comments from other parents.
Ahead of enrolment at the nursery in April she said she spoke to a man named Jonathan who introduced himself as the manager.
She said: “I explained I was an anxious person. I asked a number of questions about safety and was reassured by Jonathan that all staff had regular first aid training.”
Ms Wheeler sought further reassurance when Genevieve attended a “settling in session”, although sleeping arrangements were not discussed.
She said: “I wanted to know that Gigi was being cared for and safety in the nursery was paramount. I was again told that all staff had regular first aid training.”
A week later she said the couple were “surprised” when the nursery told them their daughter had slept for 90 minutes after she was put down in a cot.
She said her daughter had previously struggled to sleep and they had adopted a shift system in her early months of life.
“John and I were obsessive about safe sleep practice,” she said. “I would always be anxious about the safety of my children and wanted to make sure I was doing everything I could to keep them safe.”
The youngster spent time in hospital in late April after she was diagnosed with bronchiolitis, a common condition in infants, and returned to the nursery for full day sessions on 5 and 6 May, the court heard.
Ms Wheeler said her daughter then enjoyed the “best weekend of her life”.
She said: “She spent lots of time playing on her toy mat and she was able to support herself while standing, and was also moving around on the floor with great determination and speed, babbling as she liked to and saying ‘dada dada’. She tried on her holiday sunglasses and swim costume.
“Gigi was not just a baby. She was a person with her likes and dislikes, her interests and her passions, her loves and frustrations. She was a complete person.
“Owing to her beautiful French name she adopted a French persona in our house and was often voiced by me with a French accent. We used to joke it would be very strange when she started talking properly and would not actually speak French.”
Ms Wheeler had no concerns for her daughter’s health over the weekend, she said.
Opening the case earlier this week, prosecutor Peter Wright KC told jurors that strapping a child to a bean bag on their front was an “obvious recipe for disaster” and led to the death of the youngster from a combination of asphyxia and pathophysiological stress.
The defendant, a deputy manager at the nursery, was said to be in charge of sleeping arrangements on May 9.
Roughley, of Heaton Norris, Stockport, denies manslaughter and an alternative count of child cruelty.