Chilton mum Danielle Massey denies playing games on phone while son Charlie Goodall drowned in bath

A County Durham mum who has admitted killing her baby boy has denied playing cooking games on her phone while he drowned in the bath.

Seven-month-old Charlie Goodall died in February 2022 after he fell from his newly-fitted seat which was inside the tub at his home in Chilton.

His mother Danielle Massey had placed her son inside the bath and claims she left him unattended briefly while she went to fetch a clean towel.

But prosecutors claim the 31-year-old actually ignored him for 26 minutes, in which time she possibly fell asleep on the sofa and played apps on her phone including 'Cooking Madness: A Chef's Game.'

When Charlie was found unresponsive, Massey called the emergency services who rushed to the property on West Chilton Terrace.

He was airlifted to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle where he died.

The court heard Massey was arrested and later told a police officer: "It's all my fault. I killed my baby."

The mother has already admitted manslaughter and having possession of cannabis on the day Charlie died but is undergoing a trial of issue at Teesside Crown Court to contest the basis of her guilty plea.

She maintains her gross negligence is limited to the use of the "unsuitable" bath seat which Charlie fell from and not via the use of games on her phone.

The court was told the mother had been under the supervision of social services for the first few months of Charlie's life.

Giving evidence, Massey said she had also been on a "bathing workshop" with a family worker before Charlie was born.

Richard Wright KC said: "The prosecution case is that defendant left her child unattended for a long period of time so that he fell out of his unsafe bath seat and drowned which would not have happened if he had been properly supervised as he should have been at the time.

"The defence cast the issue of whether the Crown can prove that the defendant was playing a game on her phone for 26 minutes during which time her son drowned."

The court heard written evidence from a number of parties including the defendant's mother and her ex partner, Charlie's father William Goodall.

Mr Goodall said he was at home nearby, which he shared with his current partner, when he received a phone call from a panicked Massey telling him to come over.

Mr Goodall described seeing Charlie being worked on by the paramedics and said he noticed the house to appear dirty and untidy.

Mr Goodall was initially arrested but later cleared of doing any wrongdoing.

Taking to the witness stand, Massey said she had a broken sleep two days before Charlie died as her cat had recently given birth overnight.

She also admitted to habitually taking cannabis at night times, when Charlie was asleep.

On the day Charlie died, the court heard her phone was alleged to have been open for 26 minutes during the period he was in the bath between 13:40 and 14:06.

But when asked by her defence barrister Martin Sharpe if she was using her mobile in that time she denied it, insisting she was bathing her son.

Referring to the bath seat he fell from, Massey told the court the equipment was brand new which she had fitted shortly before the incident.

Describing what unfolded, she said: "I went to pick up the towel but realised I didn't have one in the bathroom so at that point that's when I decided I had to go get a towel. I was only planning on going to the dining table.

"At that point I left the bathroom thinking I was only going to be a minute.

"I realised I took all the towels upstairs because the cat had kittens so I ran upstairs to see if I could find any clean towels."

Massey, who was diagnosed with asthma in 2013, said she then returned downstairs to the same floor as the bathroom having failed to find any fresh towels but needed to sit down on the sofa to catch her breath.

She continued: "I closed my eyes during the breathing techniques. I'm not 100% if I fell asleep, I was exhausted."

Mr Sharpe then asked: "Can you say with any certainty you were asleep on the sofa?" Massey replied: "No."

Recalling what happened next, she said: "I walked in and I seen him laid there and I picked him up and started CPR."

Massey described Charlie as laying to the side before she picked him to begin CPR while retrieving her phone from the sofa to call 999.

She said she carried on trying to resuscitate him until medics arrived.

But at the scene she told ambulance staff she had left Charlie to go make a bottle and not to get a towel.

When quizzed why by Mr Sharpe she replied: "My head was all over the place.

"I was an emotional wreck because I had no idea if my son was alive or dead at this point."

Mr Wright KC told Massey phone records showed her opening three different apps including Cooking Madness at 13:40:19.

Massey replied: "I bathed my son, I went to get a towel. I did not play on the games."

Mr Justice Goss adjourned the hearing until tomorrow.

The case continues.

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