'Anxious' parents of a baby girl who died at nursery were told by bosses she was safe in their care

The "anxious" parents of a baby girl who died was told by nursery bosses she was safe in their care before strapping her face down to a bean bag, a court has heard.

Nine-month-old Genevieve Meehan was found blue and unresponsive at the Tiny Toes Nursery on the afternoon of 9 May 2022 in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport.

Kate Roughley, 37, of Heaton Norris, Stockport, is accused of manslaughter by ill-treatment. She denies manslaughter and an alternative count of child cruelty.

The defendant is said to have placed the child face down, tightly wrapped and fastened to a bean bag with a harness for more than 90 minutes.

Genevieve, known as Gigi, died later that day in hospital after staff and paramedics attempted to revive her.

Jurors heard a number of witness statements from Katie Wheeler, Genevieve's mother, at Manchester Crown Court on 18 April 2024.

Ms Wheeler explained she and her partner, John Meehan, wanted to send their daughter to another nursery but it was full and eventually decided on Tiny Toes following positive comments from other parents.

She said a man named Jonathan introduced himself as the manager ahead of Gigi's enrolment at the nursery in April.

She said: “I explained I was an anxious person. I asked a number of questions about safety and was reassured by Jonathan that all staff had regular first aid training.”

Sleeping arrangements were not discussed during a "settling in session" in which Ms Wheeler sought further reassurance about her concerns.

She said: “I wanted to know that Gigi was being cared for and safety in the nursery was paramount. I was again told that all staff had regular first aid training.”

A week later, she said the couple were "surprised" when the nursery told them their daughter had slept for 90 minutes in a cot.

The parents had adopted a shift system in the early months of Gigi's life after she previously struggled to sleep.

“John and I were obsessive about safe sleep practice,” she said.

“I would always be anxious about the safety of my children and wanted to make sure I was doing everything I could to keep them safe.”

The youngster was diagnosed with bronchiolitis, a common condition infants, and later spent time in hospital in April. Genevieve returned to the nursery for full day sessions on 5 and 6 May, the court heard.

Ms Wheeler said her daughter then enjoyed the “best weekend of her life”.

She said: “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’. She tried on her holiday sunglasses and swim costume.

“Gigi was not just a baby. She was a person with her likes and dislikes, her interests and her passions, her loves and 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.”

Ms Wheeler had no concerns for her daughter’s health over the weekend, she said.

She said Genevieve was "bright, alert and her normal mischievous self” on the morning of her death, 9 May 2022. Mr Meehan drove them to Tiny Toes with her daughter wearing a blue T-shirt with the words “Marais is the best district in Paris”.

As her partner waited in the car she dropped off her daughter inside and told her: “I love you sweetie.”

In his statement, Mr Meehan said he received a phone call from Ms Wheeler at 3.15pm as he was heading to collect Genevieve’s elder sister from school.

He said: “Katie told me she had a phone call from the nursery and Genevieve had been found unresponsive and blue, and an ambulance was on its way to the nursery.”

He said he was waiting outside A&E at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport when the ambulance arrived.

“A paramedic opened the doors of the ambulance and I could see CPR was being conducted on Genevieve,” he said.

Doctors and nurses attempted to revive Genevieve but she was pronounced dead at 4.09pm, the court was told.

Opening the case earlier this week, prosecutor Peter Wright KC told jurors that strapping a child to a bean bag on their front was an “obvious recipe for disaster” and led to the death of the youngster from a combination of asphyxia and pathophysiological stress.

The defendant, a deputy manager at the nursery, was said to be in charge of sleeping arrangements on May 9.