Second lady charged with neglect at Genevieve Meehan nursery
A second woman who worked at the nursery where Genevieve Meehan was killed has been charged with neglect.
Rebecca Gregory is accused of committing the offences at Tiny Toes nursery in Stockport, Greater Manchester, in April 2022.
The 25-year-old has been charged with four counts of child neglect over alleged incidents that are not related to nine-month-old Genevieve, who was killed at the nursery in May 2022.
Kate Roughley was found guilty of Genevieve’s manslaughter on Monday, and will be sentenced on May 22.
Gregory will appear at Stockport Magistrates’ Court on August 5 to answer the charges.
Rebecca Gregory has been charged with four counts of child neglect in relation to incidents at Tiny Toes nursery in Stockport (pictured) in April 2022
The alleged incidents took place at the same nursery where Genevieve Meehan (pictured) was killed, although the charges do not relate the nine-month-old
Greater Manchester Police said in a statement: ‘Rebecca Gregory (20/12/1998) of Pearl Street, Stockport charged with four counts of child neglect from April 2022.’
A spokesperson for the force told MailOnline that the charges are not related to Genevieve Meehan, who died at the nursery in May 2022.
Nine-month-old Genevieve was killed when she was strapped face down on a bean bag to sleep by Kate Roughley, who was found guilty of manslaughter on Monday.
The 37-year-old worker from Heaton Norris, Stockport, was said to have ignored the ‘serious and obvious’ risks of doing this and leaving the child for more than 90 minutes before she was found ‘unresponsive and blue’.
The baby’s parents John and Katie Meehan told the press outside Manchester Crown Court after the jury unanimously convicted Roughley that they could ‘never forgive’ her.
Barrister Mr Meehan said: ‘We will never forgive the callousness of Kate Roughley’s actions. She was entrusted with the care of or our daughter but instead she treated her with contempt.’
Mr Meehan, stood with his tearful solicitor wife Katie, paid tribute to their daughter who ‘loved life, to play the tambourine, spend time with her big sister’, and was ‘kind, infectious and mischievous’.
‘We loved every day watching her develop. We’ll never accept the cruelty of her life being taken away,’ he said. ‘Her life was full of promise and wonder, and it was taken.
‘Genevieve’s loss has destroyed our family and we grieve for her every day. We’re desperate to see her smile, see her laugh and feel her warm embrace.’
John Meehan reads a statement to the media outside Manchester Crown Court on Monday after Kate Roughley was found guilty of the manslaughter of his daughter Genevieve
Mr Meehan said he and his wife do not want to see her defined by the manner of Genevieve’s death and that ‘our beautiful daughter deserves to be remembered for the wonderful person she was.’
During a month-long trial, jurors heard Roughley displayed a ‘lack of sympathy’ towards children – labelling Genevieve ‘vile’, a ‘whinger’ and a ‘diva’.
CCTV even showed her ignoring the youngster’s crying and desperate last movements as she struggled to survive while tightly strapped to the bean bag, swaddled in a blanket.
Roughley, who had 17 years’ experience as a nursery worker but no children of her own, then ‘lied’ to cover up what she’d done, claiming she constantly checked on babies in her care.
The prosecution said Roughley’s ‘deliberate conduct’, ‘ill-treatment’ and ‘lack of any effective monitoring’ causing Genevieve’s death.
Roughley showed no emotion and stared straight ahead as jurors at Manchester Crown Court returned their verdicts after over five hours’ deliberations.
Mrs Justice Ellenbogan adjourned sentencing until Wednesday and remanded Roughley, whose parents were at the back of court, in custody until then.
