A daycare worker who ignored the “serious and obvious” risks of tying a baby face down to a sleeping bean bag faces a lengthy jail term after being found guilty of manslaughter.
Kate Roughley will receive a maximum sentence of life in prison for the “abuse” of nine-month-old Genevieve Meehan, known as “Gigi”, who was abandoned for more than 90 minutes before being found “unresponsive and sad”.
During a month-long trial, jurors heard that the 37-year-old, from Heaton Norris, Stockport, showed a “lack of sympathy” towards children, labeling Genevieve as “vile”, “whiny” and a “diva”.
CCTV even showed her ignoring the young man’s cries and his last desperate movements as she struggled to survive while tightly tied to the bean bag and wrapped in a blanket.
Roughley, who had 17 years’ experience as a childcare worker but had no children of her own, then “lied” to cover up what she had done, claiming she constantly checked on the babies in her care.
Kate Roughley (left) arrives at Manchester Crown Court last Friday with her mother Jane (centre) and father Stuart (right).
The prosecution said Roughley’s “deliberate conduct”, “mistreatment” and “lack of effective follow-up” caused Genevieve’s death.
Roughley showed no emotion and stared straight ahead as jurors at Manchester Crown Court delivered their verdicts after more than five hours of deliberations.
Judge Ellenbogan adjourned sentencing until Wednesday and remanded Roughley, whose parents were at the back of the court, in custody until then.
Genevieve’s mother, Katie Wheeler, and other family members emotionally embraced each other outside the courtroom and thanked the prosecution.
Manchester Crown Court heard Genevieve suffered fatal asphyxiation and pathophysiological stress caused by the “unsafe sleeping environment” at Tiny Toes nursery in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, on May 9, 2022.
During the trial, Peter Wright KC, prosecuting, told the jury: ‘His death was not the result of any terrible or unavoidable accident.
“We will say that his death was due to the mistreatment he suffered at the hands of this defendant.”
On the day of the tragedy, Assistant Principal Roughley was acting as a leader in the nursery’s understaffed nursery, where she was one of only two workers caring for 11 babies.
Kate Roughley, of Heaton Norris, Stockport, was unanimously found guilty of manslaughter.
Her parents, solicitor John Meehan and solicitor Katie Wheeler, had dropped Genevieve off at 9am and found her unconscious at 3.12pm. They were unable to revive her and she was later pronounced dead in hospital.
Wright said the reason for the baby’s condition was not immediately apparent but was clear from the CCTV footage.
She said Genevieve had been put to sleep that afternoon by Roughley, who had wrapped her in a blanket so tightly she couldn’t move.
The girl had also not been placed on her back, in accordance with safe sleep policies, but on her stomach and on her stomach, tied to a bean bag with a harness.
They also placed a blanket on him that practically covered him from head to toe, with the ‘inevitable consequence’ that it would make observations difficult and increase the risk of overheating.
He said Genevieve was visibly “distressed by this treatment” but her hitting and cries were ignored and she was left around 1.35pm until she was discovered unconscious an hour and 37 minutes later.
Mr Wright said: “The risk to her of asphyxiation and death was, we say, serious and obvious.”
“However, the defendant ignored it and by the time she checked on Genevieve with something that vaguely represented genuine interest, it was too late.”
The jury heard how the baby had been enrolled in nursery just weeks earlier in April after she “thrived” despite being born prematurely at 35 weeks.
Roughley was working at Tiny Toes nursery in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport (file image)
Genevieve had been treated in hospital for bronchiolitis, common in young babies, and was using an inhaler, but expert witnesses said the condition was not a factor in her death.
Wright said that in the days before the tragedy, Roughley had shown a “lack of affection” toward Genevieve that was “not just visible, but tangible.”
On the day of Genevieve’s death, Roughley had used the bean bag as a “form of restraint,” Wright said, ignoring safety advice to never place babies face down.
Under cross-examination during the trial, Roughley insisted: “I would never have wanted a nine-month-old baby. To say I don’t like him is far from the truth.
When asked if he thought Genevieve’s death was preventable, he said: “I feel like if I had seen her a couple of seconds or minutes earlier, it might have been different.”
‘It was common practice for children to sleep on the bean bag bed.
‘I feel responsible for the fact that Genevieve was in my care that day. However, I do not believe my actions were the reason for the death.
He denied that calling Genevieve a “whiny” and a “diva” was “malicious.”
Roughley said: ‘We often told the children ‘stop complaining’. This was not shouted at the children or said in a malicious way. They were simply passing comments during the work day.’
Sarah Elliot KC, defending, told the jury that Roughley looked after the children in a “hands-on, responsible, sensible but caring way”.
He said the defendant denied failing to make safe sleeping arrangements and had “properly monitored” Genevieve.
