Deputy manager Kate Roughley is accused of the manslaughter of Genevieve, who she cared for at Tiny Toes Nursery in Cheadle Hulme. The case is being tried at Manchester Crown Court.
After the pathologist who carried out Geneveive’s post mortem gave evidence earlier in the week, the jury has now heard from nursery practitioner Megan Goldsby who had worked at Tiny Toes since 2018.
Martin Reid KC, prosecuting, asked her to summarise her view on how the nursery operated.
She said, ‘Not great. It was badly ran. We had too many children.’
Goldsby explained that at first the nursery followed ratios of one staff member to three children, but then it ‘gradually got worse’.
She said policies on ratios were not followed and ‘did not reflect reality’.
Mr Reid asked, ‘What was your understanding of how children should be placed asleep?’
Goldsby replied, ‘On their backs with a blanket just below their shoulders. In the toddler room they would be placed on floor mats or cots.’
She told the court that a week before the incident with Genevieve, she recalled a child had been placed to sleep on a strapless beanbag on their side because it was the ‘only option’ after they had not settled in a cot or floor mat.
Goldsby went on to say that the beanbag in the baby room had ‘little straps on the front so you could secure them in’.
Mr Reid said, ‘How did you understand a baby would be placed in it?’
She replied, ‘Facing forward.’
Nursery nurse Lydia Wakefield, who had worked at Tiny Toes Nursery for 20 years, told the jury she had never put young children or babies to sleep on a beanbag.
The jury heard that Ms Roughley, who denies manslaughter and another count of child abuse, along with an assistant were the only members of staff ‘visible’ for most of the day, while three days earlier there were 16 babies in attendance including Genevieve.
An independent children’s social work consultant, Catherine Knowles, told the court the available floor space was ‘not sufficient’.
She said, ‘The whole set-up of the nursery’s baby room was not conductive to a caring, nurturing or learning environment.’
Also, that the CCTV footage within the nursery showed that falling short of recommended ratios ‘appears to be the norm’.
Knowles said the safest sleeping position for a baby was on their back and not on their front or side, and that ‘under no circumstances’ should a baby’s head or face be covered.
She said she ‘firmly believed’ Genevieve’s death was ‘totally avoidable’.
The case continues