Nursery worker 'punished' baby girl, jury hears

Kate Roughley was accused of "punishing" nine-month-old Genevieve Meehan

A nursery worker put a baby girl in "mortal danger" as a "punishment", a jury was told.

Kate Roughley, 37, is on trial at Manchester Crown Court accused of the manslaughter of nine-month-old Genevieve Meehan.

Genevieve died from asphyxiation after being strapped to a beanbag at Tiny Toes nursery in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, on 9 May 2022.

Ms Roughley denies manslaughter and an alternative charge of child cruelty.

Barristers delivered closing speeches for the prosecution and the defence

'Recipe for disaster'

In his closing speech to the jury, Peter Wright KC said Ms Roughley had "brought about" the child's death with her "deliberate conduct".

He 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 beanbag and restrained.

“It was a recipe for disaster, and disaster there followed."

Mr Wright said Genevieve’s "obvious distress" "was just ignored" for "minute after minute after minute".

“She put that child in mortal danger and then deliberately did nothing about it", he added.

In her closing speech, Sarah Elliott KC, defending, told the jury her client was a "very ordinary woman" who had wanted to work with children since her school days.

She suggested that Tiny Toes owners Franck and Karen Pell were making an “awful lot of money” yet the nursery had too many children and not enough staff.

Miss Elliott added: “We say that everything that Kate Roughley does on 9 May is done with the aim of getting Genevieve to settle."

She told the jury they must consider the behaviour of the nursery management, who could see the baby room from a live CCTV feed.

"You may think that there are a number of people the Crown could have put in the dock but they have chosen to blame Kate Roughley", Miss Elliot said.

The trial continues.