Kate Roughley, 37, is who is accused of the manslaughter of nine-month-old Genevieve and an alternative count of child abuse, which she denies, is standing trial at Manchester Crown Court.
The prosecution alleges the deputy manager of Tiny Toes Nursery in Cheadle Hulme left Genevieve ‘virtually immobilsed’, strapped to a beanbag on her front to sleep for 90 minutes, and that her cries were ‘simply ignored’.
Giving evidence, Roughley said she put Genevieve on her side on the beanbag and that she had ‘no cause for concern’ up to the point when she discovered the child was not breathing.
She told the jury, ‘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.’
Her barrister, Sarah Elliott, KC, asked, ‘In your mind, did you do any unlawful act that contributed to or caused her death?’
Roughley replied, ‘No, I did nothing different on this day to any other day.’
She denied bearing any ‘ill-will’ to the child or any ‘dislike’ as the prosecution has suggested.
Elliott said, ‘As far as you are concerned, did you wilfully or deliberately potentially ill-treat her in any way?’
Roughley replied, ‘No, I didn’t. I didn’t treat Genevieve any different to any other child in my care.’
Asked how she felt about the events the day of Genevieve’s death, she said ‘There is not a day that goes by when I don’t think about it.’
Sleep checks
CCTV footage of the baby room from 9 May, the day of Genevieve’s death, was played to the court.
Roughley said how she had decided to place the nine-month-old on a bean bag rather than a cot because she had slept there better the week before.
She said the harness was ‘not tight’ and that Genevieve’s face was ‘looking to the left, with with her right cheek on the beanbag’.
The deputy manager went on to say that she had checked on the child around 30 minutes later and found ‘nothing of concern.’
The footage showed Genevieve move her head up and lift her legs minutes later.
Roughley’s barrister asked her, ‘What was your opinion about that?’
She replied, ‘She did tend to toss and turn her head when she was going to sleep.
‘She enjoyed kicking her legs when she went to sleep.’
The defendant agreed that ‘grunting’ could be heard later from the area of the beanbag but said, ‘She also made that noise in the morning and the week prior. When she had made it in the morning, she went back to sleep soon after.’
The trial continues.
