Evil nursery manager GUILTY over death of baby girl after strapping her face down to bean bag for almost two hours

A NURSERY manager has been found guilty of killing a baby by strapping her to a bean bag face down for almost two hours.

Genevieve Meehan was found unresponsive and blue at Tiny Toes Nursery in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, after her cries were "simply ignored".

The nine-month-old was rushed to hospital but couldn't be saved and died later that day.

Kate Roughley, 37, has today been convicted after a jury of six men and six women unanimously found her guilty of manslaughter at Manchester Crown Court.

Sickeningly, the qualified nursery nurse "for some inexplicable reason appeared to have taken against Genevieve" in the days before the baby's death.

She was heard telling the tot to "stop your whinging" and told her repeatedly to "go home" when she cried.

Prosecutor Peter Wright KC said: "Her hostility to Genevieve was, we say, as illogical as it was disturbing."

The court was told the baby was strapped on her front by "means of a harness" on a bean bag rather than a cot or sleeping mat.

She was then "practically" covered from head to foot in a blanket that would have heightened her risk of overheating.

Mr Wright said her sleeping position was an "obvious recipe for disaster" after she was left unable to breathe properly.

He added: "Unsurprisingly, Genevieve was distressed by this treatment but her cries were ignored and she was left tightly swaddled, restrained and covered in this position."

Genevieve was left virtually immobilised and face down between 1.35pm and 3.12pm.

During this time, CCTV showed Roughley heading for a toilet break while telling a colleague: "Just ignore anyone if they start."

Five minutes later, Genevieve moved her head side-to-side and raised her legs in a way "entirely consistent with an increasingly exhausted child desperately thrashing in order to survive".

Tragically, jurors heard Roughley checked other children but not the baby, who "remained on the beanbag seemingly motionless".

Her mum Katie Wheeler heartbreakingly revealed Genevieve's final hours before she was dropped off at the nursery by her parents.

She said: "I had put suncream on her, which she found ticklish and funny.

"When I dropped her off [at nursery] I said to her 'I love you, sweetie'.

"[Genevieve's dad] John told me he watched her go in and she seemed happy and then I went home and went to work."

While John told the court how he later received a phonecall from his wife saying their daughter had been found unresponsive.

He was then told the baby was being taken to A&E at Stepping Hill Hospital.

When he arrived, John could see doctors battling to save the stricken youngster.

The dad added: "I remained in hospital as doctors tried to save her. I saw Katie and her mother leave the room. Doctors and nurses approached me and asked if I wanted to go with them.

"I wanted to stay with Genevieve. I overheard the doctors having a conversation about stopping CPR. We were then told they were going to stop treatment and they could not save Genevieve."

Roughley is a qualified nursery nurse and early years practitioner with 17 years of experience.

At the time of Genevieve's death, she was the duty baby room leader and in charge of sleep arrangements.

She denied manslaughter and an alternative count of child cruelty.

Roughley will be sentenced on Wednesday.