Yahoo News Killer nursery worker's chilling words to innocent baby 'she took against' caught on CCTV
Harrowing details of an evil nursery worker who killed a nine-month-old baby by placing her face down on a bean bag for 90 minutes have come to light.
Chilling CCTV footage captured the worker telling the baby to “stop your whinging” weeks before she was killed. Kate Roughley has now been found guilty of manslaughter.
Her chilling remarks showed the 37-year-old early years practitioner had "taken against" little Genevieve Meehan despite being her caregiver, a court heard. On Monday (May 20) a jury of six men and six women unanimously found Roughley guilty of manslaughter and she will be sentenced on Wednesday, May 22.
As reported by The Mirror, damning CCTV also caught Roughley telling the baby – affectionately called Gigi by her family – to go home and saying "Genevieve, if we had any chance of being friends, you just blew it" at Tiny Toes Nursery in Stockport, Greater Manchester.
Roughley herself discovered Genevieve's lifeless body on the afternoon of May 9, 2022, before colleagues and then paramedics attempted to revive the child but her condition was irreversible and she was pronounced dead later that day in hospital.
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Speaking after Roughley was convicted, Gigi's parents said they will "never forgive the callousness" of the nursery nurse. In a statement, released via Greater Manchester Police, the baby's family said: "Genevieve wasn’t just a baby, she was a person. She loved to laugh, to play with her tambourine, to eat Spaghetti Bolognese and to be with her big sister.
"She was kind, affectionate, independent and mischievous. She was fascinated with the world and everything in it. She embraced every day. She loved life and we loved her instantly.
"We were amazed every day watching her grow and develop. She was such a strong person, bright and talented. To be in her presence was such joy. We will never accept the cruelty of her life being taken away. That we will not get to hear her speak her first words or watch her grow up is impossible to comprehend. Genevieve could have done anything she wanted to. She had her whole life to live and was loved so dearly by her family."
Giving evidence, Roughley, of Stockport, 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 infant.
Asked by her barrister, Sarah Elliott KC: "What responsibility do you feel in relation to what happened?" She replied: "I do feel responsible for Genevieve's death given she was in my care that day. However, I don't feel my actions were the cause of the death."
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Following the conviction, Greater Manchester Police called Roughley "callous and negligent". The month-long trial was told the woman also tightly swaddled Gigi and covered her with a blanket as she put the baby to sleep. Jurors were told Roughley put Genevieve in "mortal danger" and then deliberately did nothing about it.
In his closing speech, prosecutor Peter Wright KC said: "She considered Genevieve was occupying too much of her time and was too vocal, too demanding, so she was going to do something about it. Genevieve was being punished for her earlier perceived misdemeanours, for not sleeping long enough for her liking. She was being banished to the bean bag and restrained. It was a recipe for disaster, and disaster there followed."
Roughley, who will be sentenced at Manchester Crown Court tomorrow (May 22), showed no emotion as the jury foreman delivered the verdict. The judge remanded her into custody.
