Mum ‘who shook her 10-week-old baby to death refused to visit her in hospital as she was “having her dinner”‘
A MUM who allegedly shook her newborn baby to death refused to visit her in hospital because she was having dinner, a court heard.
Lauren Saint George, 25, then stood with her back to Lily-Mai moaning about money and housing when she eventually did go, prosecutors said.
And hospital staff who thought she and partner Darren Hurrell, 25, were incapable of looking after the baby tried to stop them taking her home when she was discharged, it was claimed.
Lily-Mai spent two months in hospital and died aged ten weeks in February 2018, after her parents found her unresponsive at home in Haringey, North London.
She suffered a serious head injury and suffered 18 rib fractures, two leg fractures and severe bruising.
Midwife Marie Creighton visited Lauren and Darren in Barnet Hospital four days after the premature birth in November 2017, Wood Green crown court heard.
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She said: "I told her well done for getting to 31 weeks.
"I said to her: 'Let’s go and see Lily-Mai.' Lauren replied something like, “No I’m having my dinner.”
"Darren then told her dinner could wait and Lauren said: 'Oh alright then come on.'
"Lauren however just stood there with her back to the baby moaning about finding housing, money.
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"Both myself and Darren told her to look at the baby and she may have glanced at her but I’m not sure."
The court heard that hospital staff were also horrified when Lauren said separately she “hated” the noises Lily-Mai made and wished she would “cry instead of groaning”.
And Lauren attended all pre-birth meetings but lost interest after Lily-Mai was born, Ms Creighton added.
But the midwife told jurors that alarm bells were ringing after their first meeting when she thought Lauren's history failed to add up, and expressed "grave concerns" over the couple's parenting skills.
She added: "I did immediately think they came across as a couple who needed extra care. They were both scruffy in appearance."
During a meeting with a social worker and a doctor, they were questioned on how they would care for Lily-Mai if and when she was discharged.
Mc Creighton said: "I just sat there and realised that they would not cope.
"During this meeting, while they were both in the room, the smell of their body odour became apparent and became increasingly worse."
Midwife Deborah Hodge also told the court that Lauren admitted she gets angry very easily, adding: "It was causing a concern as to how she would manage if it was Lily-Mai who had perhaps caused the trigger."
And Enfield Council’s former social services manager Alicia Jack, who oversaw three referrals from concerned hospital staff, said she contacted Saint George in January and was told she and Darren were ill so were not visiting.
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Ms Jack told the court: “She was annoyed. She said, “What do you want? I have more important things to do.”’
Saint George and Hurrell deny murder, manslaughter, causing or allowing the death of a child and cruelty to a person under 16 years old. The trial continues.