A VILE nursery manager said three disturbing words to a tragic baby girl before she strapped her face down to a bean bag for nearly two hours.
Genevieve Meehan was found unresponsive and blue at Tiny Toes Nursery in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, on May 9, 2022, after her cries were “simply ignored”, a court heard.
The nine-month-old was rushed to hospital but couldn’t be saved and died later that day.
Kate Roughley, 37, was yesterday convicted after a jury of six men and six women unanimously found her guilty of manslaughter at Manchester Crown Court.
Sickeningly, the qualified nursery nurse “for some inexplicable reason appeared to have taken against Genevieve” in the days before the baby’s death.
Roughley’s actions were said to be fuelled by an “illogical and disturbing hostility” towards the youngster which was revealed on CCTV footage from May 5 and 6.
She was subjected to “rough handling” by Roughley, who called her “stress head” and on one occasion told her: “Genevieve go home. Do you have to be so loud and constant? Change the record.”
She was heard chillingly telling the tot to “stop your whinging”.
Prosecutor Peter Wright KC said: “Her hostility to Genevieve was, we say, as illogical as it was disturbing.”
The court was told the baby was strapped on her front by “means of a harness” on a bean bag rather than a cot or sleeping mat.
She was then “practically” covered from head to foot in a blanket that would have heightened her risk of overheating.
Mr Wright said her sleeping position was an “obvious recipe for disaster” after she was left unable to breathe properly.
He added: “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 virtually immobilised and face down between 1.35pm and 3.12pm.
During this time, CCTV showed Roughley heading for a toilet break while telling a colleague: “Just ignore anyone if they start.”
Five minutes later, Genevieve moved her head side-to-side and raised her legs in a way “entirely consistent with an increasingly exhausted child desperately thrashing in order to survive”.
Tragically, jurors heard Roughley checked other children but not the baby, who “remained on the beanbag seemingly motionless”.
Her mum Katie Wheeler heartbreakingly revealed Genevieve’s final hours before she was dropped off at the nursery by her parents.
She said: “I had put suncream on her, which she found ticklish and funny.
May 5 and 6, 2022
Roughley’s actions were said to be fuelled by an “illogical and disturbing hostility” towards the youngster which was revealed on CCTV footage from May 5 and 6.
She was subjected to “rough handling” by Roughley, who called her “stress head” and on one occasion told her: “Genevieve go home. Do you have to be so loud and constant? Change the record.”
May 9, 2022
1.35pm to 3.12pm – Genevieve was left virtually immobilised and face down for 97 minutes.
The baby was strapped on her front by “means of a harness” on a bean bag rather than a cot or sleeping mat, before being found blue and unresponsive.
She died the same day in hospital.
May 20, 2024
A jury of six men and six women unanimously found Roughley guilty of manslaughter.
May 22, 2024
Roughley is due to be sentenced.
“When I dropped her off [at nursery] I said to her ‘I love you, sweetie’.
“[Genevieve’s dad] John told me he watched her go in and she seemed happy and then I went home and went to work.”
While John told the court how he later received a phonecall from his wife saying their daughter had been found unresponsive.
He was then told the baby was being taken to A&E at Stepping Hill Hospital.
When he arrived, John could see doctors battling to save the stricken youngster.
In a moving statement, Genevieve’s mum Katie Wheeler said: “I wish to make this statement to talk about and honour my beautiful daughter Genevieve. Gigi was not just a baby, she was a person with her likes and dislikes, her loves and her frustrations. She was a complete person.
“Owing to her beautiful French name, she adopted a French persona in our house and was often voiced by me with a French accent. We used to joke it would be very strange when she started talking properly and would not actually speak French.
“She spent lots of time playing on her toy mat and she was able to support herself while standing, and was also moving around on the floor with great determination and speed, babbling as she liked to and saying ‘dada dada’.”
The dad added: “I remained in hospital as doctors tried to save her. I saw Katie and her mother leave the room. Doctors and nurses approached me and asked if I wanted to go with them.
“I wanted to stay with Genevieve. I overheard the doctors having a conversation about stopping CPR. We were then told they were going to stop treatment and they could not save Genevieve.”
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.
She denied manslaughter and an alternative count of child cruelty.
Roughley will be sentenced on Wednesday.
