Stockport nursery tragedy: Deputy manager thought babies over six months could be positioned on their front to sleep

Roughley, who is on trial at Manchester Crown Court, said it was a ‘general understanding’ at Tiny Toes Nursery in Cheadle Hulme that children could be positioned on their front or side from six months onwards.

Kate Roughley is alleged to have swaddled nine-month-old Genevieve in a blanket and placed her face down on a bean bag, which she was strapped to, to sleep while in her care at Tiny Toes Nursery in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport on 9 May 2022.

Genevieve was later found unresponsive and taken to hospital where she was pronounced dead the same afternoon, the court previously heard.

Giving evidence, Roughley told jurors that swaddling babies was ‘procedure’ at the nursery when she started, and was also done to older children.

The defendant said the ‘bulk of her knowledge’ mainly came from nursery colleagues.

The only training provided by the nursery was first aid. Staff had to pay for online training. The court heard how Roughley had taken part in training specifically on babies, which she had done in her own time.

She confirmed she had read NHS safe sleeping guidance, stating that to the reduce the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) “place your baby on their back to sleep, in the same room as you for the first six months” and “keep your baby’s head uncovered, their blanket should be tucked in no higher than their shoulders”.

The defendant told the court she had read Tiny Toes’ sleep policy then discussed with management and other staff that sometimes babies slept ‘in different ways and not just on their backs’.

Asked by her KC, Sarah Elliott, if she had an understanding in her mind of the appropriate way for a child to sleep, Roughley replied, ‘The only time I was told not to put a child on their front was up to six-months-old.’

There was a policy at the nursery on monitoring [sleeping] babies regularly up to the age of six months until the staff were ‘familiar’ with them and their sleeping routines, she added.

Ratios

The court heard that the staff to child ratio at the nursery had also ‘gotten worse’ over the years.

Roughley said when she first started working at the nursery when she was 18, the staff to child ratio was ‘less than what it ended up’.

‘The number got a lot worse over the years’, she explained. ‘Gradually more children were being added each day and it was over a long period of time.’

Roughley said she understood guidance for staffing ratios was one to three babies.

The court heard that in April and May 2022 the staff to child ratios were at various times 1:9, 2:11, 2:13 and 1:16.

Roughley said, ‘Due to the sheer volume of children we couldn’t cuddle them to sleep as we would have liked to.’

She said she mentioned the ratio issue to management but said the problem was merely ‘moved elsewhere as babies would be transferred to older age groups’.

Nursery career

The court heard how Roughley had wanted to work with children since she was at school.

She completed her NVQ Level 3 in childcare while working at Tiny Toes Nursery. She then joined an agency for three months, working in different settings, before going back to the nursery in Cheadle Hulme full-time.

She was later promoted to ‘head of the toddler group’, which meant she was required to administer medicine. During the Covid lockdown, the toddler room and baby room were merged. Roughley said she was asked to move to that section of the setting, which remained open for children of key workers.

Her barrister asked whether she had worked with babies before then, and Rougley said she hadn’t.

She was later asked by senior management if she wanted to become a deputy manager, and agreed, though no additional management tasks were delegated to her such as enrolling children, training other staff members of implementing monitoring system for children.

The trial continues.