A nursery deputy manager caused the death of a nine-month-old baby girl by tightly swaddling her, placing her face down and strapping her to a bean bag, a court has heard.
Kate Roughley is accused of the manslaughter by ill-treatment of Genevieve Meehan at the Tiny Toes Nursery in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport.
The defendant found Genevieve, known to her family as Gigi, unresponsive and blue on the afternoon of 9 May 2022.
Staff and then paramedics attempted to revive her, but she was pronounced dead later that day in hospital.
Opening the case at Manchester Crown Court on Tuesday, prosecutor Peter Wright KC told jurors that strapping a child to a bean bag on their front was an “obvious recipe for disaster”.
He said the youngster died from a combination of asphyxia and pathophysiological stress.
The defendant was the duty baby room leader and in charge of sleeping arrangements on 9 May.
Mr Wright said Genevieve had been swaddled “so tightly that the child was effectively unable to move” before being “placed not on her back but on her front and thus in reality, and for all purposes, face down”.
“The risk to a baby as young as Genevieve in wrapping them tightly in this way and not putting them down on their back was, we say, obvious,” he said.
“As if that wasn’t bad enough, we say, Genevieve was also strapped front down onto the bag by means of a harness. The obvious effect of such a method of restraint in such a position was, we say, bound to restrict even further the ability of Genevieve to move or breathe freely.
“Finally, a blanket was placed over her that covered her practically from head to foot. The inevitable consequence of this would make any observations of her even less easy to undertake and the risk to a child suffering from overheating ever more likely.
“Unsurprisingly, Genevieve was distressed by this treatment but her cries were ignored and she was left tightly swaddled, restrained and covered in this position.”
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The prosecutor said Genevieve was left virtually immobilised and face down for an hour and 37 minutes, during which “her cries and distress – sometimes accompanied by efforts to move or reposition herself – were simply ignored”.
He added: “The risk to Genevieve of asphyxiation and death was both serious and obvious. Yet Kate Roughley ignored it and by the time she checked Genevieve with anything vaguely representing any genuine interest in her condition it was too late.”
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Roughley denies manslaughter and an alternative count of child cruelty.
The trial continues on Thursday.
