Nursery employee at Genevieve Meehan’s playgroup admits baby neglect
A woman who worked at the same nursery where nine-month-old Genevieve Meehan was killed has admitted charges of child neglect.
Rebecca Gregory, 25, appeared today at Stockport Magistrates’ Court where she admitted mistreating four children at the Tiny Toes nursery, in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, in April 2022.
The four charges stated that through assault, ill-treatment or neglect she had cause ‘unnecessary suffering or injury’ to her young victims.
Ms Moryam Begum, prosecuting, told the court how the allegations against Gregory, which involved four separate children, had come to light after CCTV footage was viewed as part of police operation.
It showed that Gregory had pulled a blanket over one girl and swaddled her and then pulled the edge down ‘causing the child to spin and roll uncontrolled on the floor’, leaving her crying.
Rebecca Gregory, 25, appeared today at Stockport Magistrates’ Court where she admitted mistreating four children at the Tiny Toes nursery, in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, in April 2022
Nine-month-old Genevieve Meehan died after being strapped face down on to a bean bag for more than a hour and a half and also tightly swaddled and covered with a blanket
Kate Roughley, seen arriving at Manchester Crown Court on May 20 this year, was found guilty of the manslaughter of nine-month-old Genevieve Meehan
Gregory had slammed one boy hard down on the floor, Ms Begum said, causing an ‘audible thud’ and an ‘outburst of distressed crying’ – and she was then heard to say: ‘What you f***ing doing kid?’
Ms Begum said Gregory had swaddled a second boy tightly, picked him up from a cot facing outwards and told him: ‘Put your arm through and f***ing go home.’
She picked up a third boy from play mat by the arms and put him in a high chair, causing his head to ‘slam’ the back of the chair, Ms Begum said.
On a separate occasion, she swaddled the same boy tightly and put him down on a blanket and, with reference to a dummy, told him: ‘Put that in your gob and shut up.’
She also leant over him and forced his head down to the edge of the blanket.
Trevor Feeley, defending, said he didn’t disagree with facts in the case but said Gregory was ‘of previously good character’.
Gregory, of Stockport, will be sentenced at Minshull Street Crown Court on September 9.
Genevieve – known as ‘Gigi’ – died after she was left strapped and face down on a bean bag for more than 90 minutes by the nursery’s deputy manager Kate Roughley.
Manchester Crown Court heard how Roughley ignored the ‘serious and obvious’ risks to Genevieve who was later found ‘unresponsive and blue’.
The youngster died from a combination of asphyxia and pathophysiological stress caused by ‘an unsafe sleep environment’.
Rebecca Gregory is pictured leaving Stockport Magistrates’ Court today after admitting charges of child neglect at the Tiny Toes nursery in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport
Genevieve Meehan died from a combination of asphyxia and pathophysiological stress caused by ‘an unsafe sleep environment’, Manchester Crown Court heard earlier this year
Kate Roughley has been jailed for 14 years for killing Genevieve Meehan by strapping her face down on a bean bag for more than 90 minutes on May 9, 2022
Genevieve Meehan’s devastated parents John and Katie Meehan are pictured giving a statement to the media outside Manchester Crown Court on May 20 this year
The child neglect and manslaughter took place at Stockport’s Tiny Toes Children’s Day Nursery
Manchester Crown Court heard how Roughley (pictured) ignored the ‘serious and obvious’ risks to Genevieve who was later found ‘unresponsive and blue’
Distressing CCTV footage showed Genevieve struggling and coughing after she had been tightly swaddled in a blanket and strapped to a bean bag using a harness by Roughley.
She’d denied charges of manslaughter and child cruelty but the jury found her guilty after a five-week trial.
Jailing her for 14 years, Mrs Justice Ellenbogen told Roughley that Genevieve’s death was ‘absolutely avoidable’.
‘As the harrowing CCTV audio and video footage showed, that day you left Genevieve in that position only carrying the most cursory and infrequent of checks,’ the judge said.
‘I am certain that every person in this courtroom who watched that footage was willing you to pick her up and remove her from the danger you had placed her, knowing of course that you didn’t.’
In a heartbreaking victim impact statement read out at Roughley’s sentencing, Genevieve’s mother Kate Meehan told of feeling ‘dead inside’ after her daughter’s death and how ‘words are simply inadequate’ to express the loss the family felt.
