AN EVIL mum who violently shook her four-month-old baby daughter to death in a horrific campaign of abuse has been jailed for 15 years.

Melissa Wilband, 28, had denied killing little Lexi Wilband, who died from a bleed on the brain.

Bristol Crown Court was told the baby collapsed at home in Newent in the Forest of Dean and died six days later.

Lexi had suffered a bleed on the brain that was likely caused by someone “shaking her violently” on more than one occasion.

Wilband was convicted of manslaughter in April following a trial before being sentenced today.

The Honourable Mr Justice Saini said Lexi was a “healthy baby” and a delightful and smiley girl.”

He told Wilband: “You killed Lexi by violently shaking her. While bathing her, you shook her and immediately after this she went floppy.

“Your extreme shaking led to extreme bleeding in her brain.

“It was obvious such violent actions would carry at least risk of very serious injury.

“I am not persuaded anything in the report can explain your violence towards Lexi.

“You were otherwise a loving mother although you lived a chaotic personal lifestyle.

“It is hard to imagine the pain Lexi must have suffered during both historical violence and the violent shaking that led to her death.”

Prosecuting, Jane Osborne KC said Wilband was aware that her baby might die through the night after the attack, but did not stay at her bedside.

She said: “A staff nurse held Lexi’s hand through the night and remained with her.

“On the morning of April 18, Lexi seemed to have longer pauses in her breathing.

“Ms Wilband was told to attend the ward. She arrived just after Lexi had ceased to show any signs of life and had stopped breathing.”

Her boyfriend at the time, Jack Wheeler, was also charged with manslaughter and causing or allowing the death of a child.

But the Crown Prosecution Service offered no evidence for the manslaughter charge and he was cleared of the second count.

The court heard Lexi was taken to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital where Wilband claimed she was in her bouncer chair when she cried, went floppy then stopped breathing.

The baby was then transferred to Bristol Children’s Hospital where the decision was made to switch off her life support.

Jane Osborne KC, prosecuting, said: “Ms Wilband knew that Lexi might die during the night but she didn’t stay by her bedside.

“A staff nurse held Lexi’s hand through the night and remained with her.

“On the morning of April 18, Lexi seemed to have longer pauses in her breathing. Ms Wilband was told to attend the ward.

“She arrived just after Lexi had ceased to show any signs of life and had stopped breathing.”

The court was told Wilband had told Wheeler, 31, throughout her pregnancy that he was Lexi’s biological dad.

But she had actually conceived the baby in early 2019 when she and Wheeler were not together.

Ms Osborne said: “When Melissa Wilband was still pregnant with Lexi, following some queries about the paternity, she presented a document which purported to be a paternity test.

“It declared that Jack Wheeler was the father of the unborn baby. This was obviously not a genuine document.

“The most obvious fact was the fact that the word ‘father’ was spelt ‘farther’ which would have been obvious to anybody who knew how to spell it properly.

“Looking at that document exacerbated concerns of Jack Wheeler and his parents. Very soon after Lexi was born, Jack Wheeler ensured that Melissa Wilband submitted samples for a proper test.

“The genuine test showed that he was not the father of Lexi. After the results of this, Mr Wheeler and Ms Wilband nearly split up but Ms Wilband persuaded Mr Wheeler that he should stay with her.”

Jurors heard Wheeler moved in with Wilband during the Covid lockdown in February 2020.

The couple, described as regular cocaine users, lived in squalor with every kitchen surface covered in food and utensils.

On April 12, 2020, Wilband phoned emergency crews, with paramedics finding Lexi unresponsive on the floor when they arrived.

While paramedics asked her questions, the mum rolled cigarettes and used her mobile.

When she was asked if she would like to hold her daughter before she was intubated, Wilband declined, the court heard.

In a prepared statement, Wheeler told police that Lexi “suddenly stopped crying and went floppy in his arms”.

A post-mortem gave Lexi’s cause of death as bleeding to the brain, caused by a non-accidental traumatic event such as someone “shaking her violently”.

Further tests found the areas of bleeding in Lexi’s eyes were “too numerous to count”, jurors heard.

Giving evidence, Wilband denied ever shaking Lexi and said she had a “bad wrist” that meant she was physically unable to shake her.

Wiliband told the court: “In the corner of my eye, I saw Lexi kind of throw herself back in her bouncer.” She said she then took Lexi out of the bouncer, undressed her and put her in the bath.

“She was fine, she was giggling, she was splashing about in the water,” she said. After the bath, the couple put a film on the television in the living room and Wilband went upstairs to hoover their bedroom.

“Jack was shouting to me, saying that she has gone floppy and she is going blue,” Wilband told the court.

“I turned the hoover off and ran downstairs as quickly as I could. Lexi was in Jack’s arms. She looked very pale. She was floppy.”

“He put his fingers in her mouth to check to see if there was any blockage. He said there was nothing there so he turned her over and started patting her back. I was panicking.”

Miranda Moore KC, representing Wheeler, suggested to Wilband that she had shaken her daughter. She replied: “I did nothing to my daughter.

“How could I shake my daughter when I have a bad wrist? I couldn’t pick her up properly, how could I shake her?

“I never shook my daughter. That was a heavy-handed person. He was kind and gentle but he has heavy hands.

“My daughter was my life. I never killed my daughter, I am telling you.”

Detective Inspector Adam Stacey said: “Lexi was four-and-a-half months old when she died.

“Melissa Wilband inflicted such serious injuries that were sadly to prove fatal and tragically Lexi passed away six days later, despite the best efforts of all the medical staff who tried to save her.

“Further medical evidence showed that Lexi had suffered at least one other episode of shaking at some point before this one.

“Wilband told lie after lie after lie – right from Lexi’s conception, and all the way throughout the pregnancy. These lies continued and were made to medical professionals trying to save Lexi’s life, to the police, and all the way through to her giving evidence in court.

“The jury saw those lies for what they were.

“Lexi should be five years old now with her whole future ahead of her. She was shaken by someone who should have been protecting her.

“Someone who should have put her safety and wellbeing above everything else, her mother. Wilband did not do those things and in fact did the exact opposite. She now faces the consequences of her actions.”