In his closing speech to the jury today (15 May), Peter Wright KC for the prosecution said that Roughley had ‘abused and exploited’ the trust placed in her to ‘her own benefit and at the cost of Genevieve.’
He argued that ‘Genevieve’s death was not the result of some unforeseen, unexpected, unexplained phenomenon as suggested by Roughley, but the results of asphyxiation brought about by a combination of pathophysiological stresses – each of them caused or brought about by her deliberate conduct.’
'Roughley put that child in mortal danger and then deliberately did nothing about it.’
Mr Wright said, ‘Her (Genevieve) death arose as a direct consequence of the unsafe sleeping environment, the unsafe sleeping arrangement to which she had been deliberately placed.’
He went on to say that the nine-month-old was put on a bean bag to sleep because the defendant was ‘dissatisfied’ with Genevieve and the ‘imposition’ that she considered had been placed on her time and attention.’
‘Geneveive was being punished for her earlier perceived misdemeanors, 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.’
Mr Wright continued, ‘Genevieve’s obvious distress, both capable of being so clearly seen and heard, on that afternoon was just ignored. Not just for a minute or two but minute after minute after minute. After writhing and thrashing and crying, audibly and visibly, ignored routinely and repeatedly, as Genevieve fought for survival before her very eyes and before everyone’s eyes when viewing that CCTV.
‘Kate Roughley had based herself in and around the kitchen area or in duties in which she effectively left Genevieve to her fate and paying lip service to any meaningful checks on that child. Lip service to her wellbeing, until it was too late.
‘She put that child in mortal danger and then deliberately did nothing about it.’
'You may think that there are a number of people the Crown could have put in the dock but they have chosen to blame Kate Roughley.’
Arguing for the defendant, Sarah Elliott KC in her closing speech told the jury, ‘You know she feels responsibility for Genevieve’s death because Genevieve was in her care and she is going to bear that for the rest of her life but you have to decide whether she is criminally responsible.
'Kate Roughley is a very ordinary woman. She wanted to work with children since she was a schoolgirl. Everything she knew, all that experience came from Tiny Toes.
Ms Elliott said that ‘senior colleague at the nursery, including owners Frank and Karen Pell and their daughter Gracie, had become ‘like a family’ to Roughley, but she added, ‘There is no sign of them now.’
She suggested that the owners were making an ‘awful lot of money’, and ‘worse than that’ the nursery had too many children and not enough staff.
Ms Elliott continued, ‘The Crown’s assertion is that Kate Roughley deliberately treated Genevieve badly because she didn’t like her. If you are not sure that’s right then the Crown’s motive for this falls away.
‘We do see things on the CCTV footage that are not textbook perfect and as Kate Roughley said she should have acted with more patience, less rushing. Don’t hold against her minor losses of patience or rushing when the numbers (of children) were overwhelming. The footage you have seen is a snapshot.
‘Over 17 years of working in a nursery without a complaint about her, we say that Genevieve was treated in the same way as others. We say that everything that Kate Roughley did on 9 May is done with the aim of getting Genevieve to settle.
‘Swaddling her for comfort, the blanket for extra warmth, putting her on her side because she has a cough and putting her on a bean bag because she was told she had slept better on it.’
She went on to tell the jury that they must consider the behaviour of the nursery management because it would help put into context some of the accusations levelled at Roughley.
She said the baby room could be seen by the owners from the live CCTV feed at reception, as well as from an upstairs office and also when they popped into the room during the course of the day.
Ms Elliott concluded, ‘You may think that there are a number of people the Crown could have put in the dock but they have chosen to blame Kate Roughley.’
