Nursery worker guilty of swaddling baby girl and strapping her face down onto bean bag

Jurors have found a nursery worker accused of swaddling a baby girl and strapping her face down onto a bean bag guilty. Kate Roughley, 30, has been found guilty of the manslaughter of nine-month-old Genevieve Meehan who sadly died following an incident at Tiny Toes Nursery in Stockport, in May 2022.

She denied manslaughter by ill-treatment and an alternative offence of child cruelty.

Prosecutors alleged that in the preceding days, Ms Roughley had ‘taken against’ Genevieve and had shown ‘hostility’ towards her.

BREAKING: Kate Roughley found guilty of manslaughter

The jury heard that on May 9, 2022, Genevieve’s parents dropped her off at the nursery. Less than an hour after arriving Ms Roughley swaddled Genevieve in a blanket and put her in a cot face down with a blanket pulled over her. Ms Roughley then placed a sheet over the far end of the cot, restricting visibility, the court heard.

Later, at around 1.30pm Ms Roughley then swaddled Genevieve in a blanket, wrapping her arms and legs inside, and placed her face down on a bean bag before strapping her down with a harness.

Jurors were told Genevieve, known by her parents as Gigi, was left virtually immobilised and face down from 1.35pm to 3.12pm when Ms Roughley found her blue and unresponsive and raised the alarm.

Staff and then paramedics attempted to revive Genevieve but her condition was irreversible and she was pronounced dead later that day in hospital. Her cause of death was later recorded as a combination of asphyxia and pathophysiological stress.

Giving evidence, Ms Roughley denied ‘persecuting’ Genevieve, and said her care of her had been ‘no different to any other child’. She told jurors she was ‘distraught and heartbroken’ on finding the unconscious