Kate Roughley: Nursery Manager Killed Baby By Strapping Her Face Down To Bean Bag

Kate Roughley: Nursery Manager Killed Baby By Strapping Her Face Down To Bean Bag

 

Genevieve Meehan, also known as “Gigi,” was discovered “unresponsive and blue” at Tiny Toes Day Nursery in Cheadle Hulme, Greater Manchester, on May 9, 2022. It is believed that Gigi’s death was caused by Kate Roughley’s mistreatment.

Additionally, the kid had been placed in a bean bag with a harness and positioned on her front, face down, rather than on her back as required by safe sleep standards.

She was also practically covered from head to toe with a blanket, which raised the possibility of her overheating.

The nine-month-old was treated with “disturbing” animosity by the qualified nurse, who reportedly instructed her to “stop whinging,” according to testimony given in court.

Genevieve, who was fighting for her life, was weeping and writhing in agony, but Roughley, 37, ignored her.

 

Nurse Kate Roughley, 37, seen leaving Manchester Crown Court, has gone on trial accused of the manslaughter of nine-month-old Genevieve Meehan

 

 

“Her death was not the result of some terrible or unavoidable accident—we say her death arose from ill treatment she suffered at the hands of this defendant,” stated prosecutor Peter Wright.

He informed the jury that Roughley, the nursery’s 17-year-old deputy manager, was serving as the baby room’s leader on the day of the tragedy.

After her parents John and Katie dropped her off at 9 a.m., Genevieve was discovered to be unresponsive at approximately 3 p.m. that same day.

Mr. Wright claims that after CCTV evidence was examined, the reason of the baby’s health issues was discovered.

He added that Roughley had put Genevieve to sleep that afternoon, wrapping her in a blanket so tightly that she was immobile.

After being taken to the hospital, the nine-month-old was unable to be saved and passed away later that day.

Kate Roughley, a 37-year-old qualified nursery nurse, is charged with manslaughter and an alternative count of child cruelty.

Days prior to the infant’s passing, jurors were informed that Roughley “for some inexplicable reason appeared to have taken against Genevieve.”

When the toddler sobbed, she was heard urging her to “go home” and to “stop your whinging.”

According to prosecutor Peter Wright KC, “Her hostility toward Genevieve was, we say, as illogical as it was disturbing.”

In May 2022, Genevieve, also referred to as Gigi by her family, passed away from a fatal mix of asphyxia and pathologic stress.

After she was unable to breathe correctly, Mr. Wright noted that her sleeping position was a “obvious recipe for disaster”.

Kate Roughley informed the police that she checked on the kids at the nursery at least once every five minutes when the police were called.

This was a “deliberate lie on her part to conceal the awful truth of what she had done,” according to Mr. Wright.

Roughley, of Heaton Norris near Stockport, denies accusations of child abuse and manslaughter.

The baby’s decline was not fully realized at the time, according to Manchester Crown Court, until CCTV was reviewed after her death.

Roughley was heard telling a colleague, “Just ignore anyone if they start.” as she headed for the bathroom.

Five minutes later, Genevieve exhibited movements “entirely consistent with an increasingly exhausted child struggling in order to survive,” the court heard, as well as a side-to-side head movement and raised legs.

“Kate Roughley had put Genevieve to sleep that afternoon in the baby room,” Mr. Wright stated.

“Doing so had involved her swaddling Genevieve so tightly that the child was effectively unable to move.”

The infant was reportedly restrained on her front by “means of a harness” on a bean bag instead of to a cot or sleeping mat, as the court was informed.

After that, the jury heard, she was “practically” covered from head to foot in a blanket that would have increased her danger of overheating.

Mr. Wright continued: “Unsurprisingly, Genevieve was distressed by this treatment but her cries were ignored and she was left tightly swaddled, restrained and covered in this position.”

Genevieve was left face down and essentially immobile between 1.35 and 3.12 pm, the court heard,

Jurors were informed at this point that her cries were “simply ignored”.

“Any level of interest in her wellbeing was, we say, sporadic and, at best, fleeting during this period,” the prosecutor stated.

“Genevieve was clearly and seriously at risk of suffocation and death. However, Kate Roughley disregarded it, and it was already too late when she checked Genevieve with anything that even somewhat seemed a sincere concern for her welfare.

“The defendant treated Genevieve in a way that all sober and reasonable people would recognise was both dangerous and would, unless averted, subject Genevieve to the risk of some harm.”

CCTV recorded the sounds of weeping and coughing for a few seconds between 2.10 and 2.12 pm.

It was reported that even after Roughley approached Genevieve and lifted the outer blanket covering the child’s head, the distress persisted.

The baby’s last leg motions were visible at 2:24 PM, according to Mr. Wright, who was in the kitchen area with the nursery manager.

Tragically, Genevieve “remained on the beanbag seemingly unchecked and motionless” while other children were checked by Roughley, but not her. This was disclosed to the jury.

The prosecution continued: “The sad reality is that by this time she had, in all probability, succumbed to the stresses placed on her body and its ability freely to breathe, and had asphyxiated.”

Jurors heard Roughley had previously referred to Genevieve as a “stress head”, and told her: “Genevieve go home. Please, I’m even asking nicely. You are driving me bananas.”

The court was told Roughley is a qualified nursery nurse and early years practitioner with 17 years of experience.

At the time of Genevieve’s death, she was the duty baby room leader and in charge of sleep arrangements.

Roughley, of Heaton Norris, Stockport, denies manslaughter and an alternative count of child cruelty.

The trial, estimated to last four weeks continues at Manchester Crown Court.

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