*TRIGGER WARNING** - upsetting news article about 9month old death at nursery

[someoneanyoneeveryone]

https://amp.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/apr/18/baby-told-stop-whingeing-alleged-killer-stockport-nursery

i am so appalled to read this
i cant imagine what the poor parents are going through but it’s making me very fearful to leave my son at nursery (he’s 10months and I have to go back to work soon).

my heart breaks
RIP GENEVIEVE 🤍

The court heard Kate Roughley, 37, had tightly swaddled the baby in a blanket and strapped her, face down, into a beanbag, ignoring her cries and signs of struggle.

Wow, this is awful. I hadn’t heard of this story so thanks for posting OP. Those poor parents.

This bit also shocked me, ‘Roughley was handling 10 babies alone at one point, after another staff member went home sick.’ How can one person be left with TEN babies?! It just goes to show you don’t really know the set up of a nursery behind closed doors.

I’ll be following the trial from now on. I hope justice is served

What a heartbreaking story.

The nursery managers should be tried too IMO.

Such an awful story i dont understand how this was normal practice at the nursery ! especially as she still maintains its was just an accident

@Rainyspringflowers agree entirely. That is absolutely horrific.

And as a retired criminal solicitor, with cctv evidence what is going on

I read that the nursery has since been shut down.. but it just worries me what hell the children there had been going through for all those years 😔

and everyone who worked there is responsible for not challenging her behaviour. HOW can she plead not guilty??? Being an ex nurse too..why do such monsters choose caring professions.

Shocking and frightening in equal measure , poor baby and her family ❤️

That’s horrendous, obviously she shouldn’t have been looking after 10 babies at once but no excuse for murder! The parents should have been called to pick up their babies when the other staff member went home.

10 babies!! That's unbelievable. I think it's the nursery's responsibility. You cannot safely handle more than 2 babies and that is the ratio for that age. She may have thought that she was helping the baby settle. I'm sure she was not trying to kill the baby but she was careless, overwrought, stressed, tired, overworked. In those conditions terrible situations happen. It's disgusting the way some places treat staff.

How can a staff member be left with 10 babies and how can a beanbag even exist that can have a baby strapped on it?
This is just a catalogue of failures, not just this one cruel person.

OMG that made me feel sick. Poor poor baby😭

I have only read the posts, I don't want to read the link.

10 babies is ridiculous, but even so you don't strap one like that 😭

People say nurseries are better than Nannies because there's more accountability... I beg to differ.

my heart goes out to her parents 🫶🏻

Where does it say she's an ex-nurse?

If she was a nurse, why isn't she now? Why has she lost or let go of her NMC registration?

Oh my god… when the world is sad enough and then you hear this news about a precious daughter 💔

This is so awful to read, how heartbreaking for the parents to have to hear their daughter died in those circumstances. A life sentence wouldn't be nearly enough for that woman.

OP one obviously don't know what happens behind closed doors, but I do think you get a feel for a nursery. I visited some nurseries and childminders that gave me an uneasy feeling when looking, but the one we chose has such a caring atmosphere.

It says the mum wanted to send Genevieve to a different nursery and I'm sure that has weighed so heavily on her mind, but you could just never imagine something like this would happen.

I don’t think what she said out loud is relevant. I’ve told my own beloved babies “ffs be quiet”, “stop bloody crying”, “you’re driving me mad”, etc. Because you do verbalise your frustration when crying babies are driving you insane.

Obviously strapping a baby face down is manslaughter. Wtf was she thinking?!

I read around other articles after reading this to learn more- it said she was now a deputy manager with 17years experience and had previously been a nurse but other articles said nursery nurse so I’m not sure which it was.

either way, I disagree that this wasn’t intentional. She seems to have treated the child with contempt even a week prior to the death.. there are reports saying when she went on a break, she handed over to a colleague to not worry if any of them started.. it just shows a lack of any level of basic human care.. and for the most vulnerable little ones 😕

it also goes against any advice for safe sleep so even if overworked, there is no excuse for cruelty

Oh my word. This is so unbelievably sad and sickening. Can't bring myself to read the article.

@2proseccosplease thank you, that’s reassuring to read

i think the timing has just given me an uneasy feeling.
I’d just sent emails to local nurseries asking to visit then read this after his bedtime. I know you can’t tarnish everyone with the same brush.. but just the extent of evil you read about in the media- I wish they would balance it with some positivity once in a while!

Why do people like this work in nurseries? - she clearly took a dislike to this poor child, which goes against any basic nurturing qualities childcare workers should have.

@Stigglet i think at your home that’s completely normal but in a professional setting, it is very telling that she has no control even over her words.

The little girl had just come out of hospital with bronchiolitis and she was annoyed at her for coughing and crying- saying she was whingeing/driving her bananas?? That’s not ok!

whatever she may have thought, her job was to calm the baby and speak kindly. When you do the basics right, things are less likely to escalate.

It’s an appalling failure on the part of everyone involved in the management of that nursery. Ratio for under 2s is 1:3. There should not have been 10 babies with just one member of staff. In fact, one member of staff should never be left alone with children. The woman responsible for strapping the baby down is a murderer. She essentially suffocated a 9 month old. Murder is the only word for it. The rest of the staff are negligent for not whistleblowing, knowing what she was like. And where were Ofsted or the LEA? Why were they not aware just how shit the nursery was? The parents must be devastated.

No I'm sorry but everyone who worked there is responsible for not challenging her behaviour is not fair. It is entirely possible that some people working there would have had NO idea what was going on in the baby room. These nurseries can be laid out in such a way that the preschool and kitchen staff have very little to do with the baby rooms. Yes anyone who worked in the same room with her and witnessed this behaviour should have spoken up but this could potentially ruined the careers of people who had nothing to do with it or any knowledge of it just because they worked in the same building.

@chocmatcha - the culture comes from the top. Knowing how easy it is to come by jobs in childcare these days, anyone who was uncomfortable could have easily moved to the next nursery down the road. No one had their career ruined. Childcare has a massive staff turnover rate.

I imagine she will argue the stress of having 10 babies crying altered her mental state? I dunno. It's tragic and she and the manager of the setting need to take responsibility

Aye but they now have the association with that nursery on their cv. When they've not done anything wrong or been aware of any wrong doing.

It's a horrible story but I think this thread will end up being taken down as the last one was - it can't run the risk while there's a live trial going on.