The family of a baby girl who died after being strapped face down onto a bean bag at her nursery have spoken of their grief at being robbed of ever hearing her first words.
Nine-month-old Genevieve Meehan was also tightly swaddled and covered with a blanket by Kate Roughley, who put her to sleep when the baby was in her care at Tiny Toes Nursery in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport.
The 37-year-old deputy manager at the nursery had decided to punish the baby, known affectionately to her family as Gigi, for “not sleeping long enough” on the afternoon of 9 May, 2022, the trial heard.
The nursery nurse from Heaton Norris was found guilty of manslaughter following a four-week trial at Manchester Crown Square Crown Court.
Paying tribute to baby Genevieve, her family said: “It has been just over two years since our beautiful and wonderful daughter’s life was taken from her. Genevieve’s loss has destroyed our family. We grieve for her every day. We long desperately to see her smile, hear her laugh and feel her warm embrace. Her absence is a physical and emotional wound that will never heal.
“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 was fascinated with the world and everything in it. She embraced every day. She loved life and we loved her instantly.
“We were amazed every day watching her grow and develop. She was such a strong person, bright and talented. To be in her presence was such joy.
“We will never accept the cruelty of her life being taken away. That we will not get to hear her speak her first words or watch her grow up is impossible to comprehend. Genevieve could have done anything she wanted to. She had her whole life to live and was loved so dearly by her family.
“We grieve for what we do not have. Words cannot adequately convey how much we miss Genevieve. 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.
“We grieve for everything Genevieve has lost. Her life, that was so full of wonder and promise, was taken from her.
“Our beautiful daughter deserves to be remembered for the wonderful person she is, not the nature of her death. She deserves to have a legacy so that her life can inspire others. As a family, we will work tirelessly to ensure she has the legacy she deserves.”
Genevieve died from asphyxiation brought on by a combination of pathophysiological stresses that was a direct result of Roughley’s actions in creating a “very unsafe sleeping environment”, said the prosecution.
Peter Wright KC said the defendant had placed Genevieve in “mortal danger” with the sleeping arrangements, also inappropriately covering her with a blanket, and then deliberately did nothing about it.
In his closing speech to the jurors, Mr Wright said: “She considered Genevieve was occupying too much of her time and was too vocal, too demanding, so she was going to do something about it.
“Genevieve was being punished for her earlier perceived misdemeanours, for not sleeping long enough for her liking. She was being banished to the bean bag and restrained.
“It was a recipe for disaster, and disaster there followed.”
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.
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 May 5 and 6, including Roughley singing “stop whingeing” to her.
Roughley told the jury the swaddling and the harness restraint were not so tight that it unduly restricted her movements, and that “kicking her legs” and “tossing and turning” were not out of character for Genevieve.
Roughley was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on Wednesday afternoon.
