Tragic tot 'was already dead' when mum got call from nursery

Little Genevieve Meehan died in hospital after being rushed from Tiny Toes Children's Day nursery.
No parent should ever have to lose their child at a place they thought they would be safe. For Genevieve Meehan's parents, that was their reality.
Dropping the tot off at Tiny Toes Children's Day nursery in Cheadle Hulme in 2022, they left their nine-month-old little girl in the care of her nursery worker - and deputy manager - Kate Roughley, reports Manchester Evening News.
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However just hours later, they received a frantic call from the nursery to say Genevieve had fallen ill and was being taken to hospital, but tragically she died that afternoon.
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It would later be revealed that their beloved baby had been swaddled, strapped face down onto a beanbag, covered with a blanket and then left there alone for an hour and a half.
Now, a year on from the trial of Kate Roughley who was jailed for the unlawful killing of Genevieve, in an interview, her parents Katie Wheeler and John Meehan have spoken about their beautiful little girl, the moment their worst nightmare came true and their campaign calling for urgent change.
Genevieve Meehan, dubbed Gigi by her family, was born prematurely on July 18 2021. Weighing just 3lb and 12oz, her parents say she was small but perfectly formed. She stayed in Stepping Hill Hospital for a number of weeks, and quickly put on weight due to her love of food before she came home.
'She is the most delightful, beautiful little soul. She's happy, and I know it doesn't sound real, but she's happy all of the time. She came into the world at a very tiny three pound twelve, and she now grew into this wonderful, fantastically beautiful little person,' said Katie.
'She had a wonderful relationship with me and her dad, but her favorite person in the whole world is her big sister. She absolutely loves everything her big sister does. She likes to copy everything she does.
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'She likes to dance with her sister. She likes watching her get ready for school in the morning. She loves to play with her toys and she also really loves our dog Beau.'
'She loves playing with her green tambourine, that's her absolute favorite. She loves food, her favorite meal is spaghetti bolognese. She had only really just got the opportunity to try lots of different foods, so she relished the opportunity.'
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'She had such an infectious, beautiful and very raucous laugh and pretty much anything could make her laugh. She just experienced everything in the world with real joy and I know that lots of parents will say that, but honestly she really was the happiest little person.'
Genevieve loved spending time with her family, music - especially from the soundtrack of Sing 2 - and was joined at the hip with her mum.
'She just was such a wonderful part of the family and she brought such joy to us all. She loved being cuddled, she just wanted to be with you all the time.'
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When the family first brought Genevieve home, as she was so small, they were worried about safe sleep, and adopted a shift pattern during the night so they could watch her sleep
Katie continued: 'We'd do maybe four hours each and then the other person would go and have a bit of a sleep. So for the first couple of months it was difficult. But not for her because she was happy, she got to go to sleep and she's very excitable. But for us it was because we had to watch her.
'Eventually, when she was big enough to go into a sleep sack, it was such a huge relief. She was a very, very easy-going baby. She didn't want a dummy. We tried her with a dummy quite early on, but she was not interested. So she liked our cuddles to soothe instead.'
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The weekend before her death in May 2022, she made a number of developmental leaps, including the first time she said 'dada'.
She was also starting to pull herself up to stand and would stand on her parents feet so they would walk with her across the room. That Easter, whilst having a roast dinner, she had also manageed to master the art of waving.
'She'd never done it before and she was so excited and so pleased with herself because we were naturally very emotional about it. It seemed hugely amazing to us and from then on she always waved at everybody,' said Katie.
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'Because even though she'd been born prematurely, there was no issue with her milestones, she smiled very early on, she did all of her activities and her progress was fantastic. 'Particularly that weekend, she just had such a wonderful weekend.'
Tiny Toes Children's Day nursery, formerly located on Mellor Road in Cheadle Hulme, boasted of having first-aid trained staff, experienced managers and a full-time professionally-trained chef.
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After positive testimonials from friends, the latest Ofsted inspection results and a visit to the nursery, her parents were happy to get Genevieve enrolled.
'It was a very well-known nursery in the local area - very well established. It had been there for a long time,' Katie said.
John added: 'It appeared to us that you had very experienced, capable staff. Which is really important. It seemed that the staff were first aid trained to a high standard and then when we went to Tiny Toes, when we were making the decision to enrol, Katie had conversations around safety and was reassured about safety within the nursery.
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'So it was all of those reasons really that made it seem like a good choice for us.'
The nursery was only a stop-gap for Genevieve, as a place wasn't available at the time at another nursery the family had chosen.
'It seemed like it would be a very safe place. I had a number of conversations, one during the settling-in session with two members of staff and then one before we enrolled Genevieve,' said Katie.
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'I'm a very anxious person when it comes to the girls and particularly with Genevieve and I think that is because she had been born prematurely so it was very important. That was really the main issue for me. I just wanted to make sure that she'd be safe.
'Once I'd had those assurances, I felt it was going to be alright.'
'When I got that call from the nursery, Genevieve was already dead'
Genevieve had been to the nursery on just eight occasions before she sadly died on May 9, 2022.
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Katie received a call from a local number, she said: 'I thought maybe she wasn't well and needed to be picked up. They said they had gone to wake Genevieve up from her sleep and she was limp and blue.'
'And I said to her, 'is she OK', they said they called an ambulance and it's on its way.'
Katie had immediately phoned John who was picking up their daughter from school, and told him to come to Stepping Hill Hospital.
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'I could hear paramedics [on the call] asking questions about Genevieve and I kept asking if she was breathing, she wouldn't answer. I had no idea of the real danger she was in. I just wanted to get to her, she seemed she was so far away,' she continued.
'When I got there I remember taking my shoes off and running to resus, we got there and it was absolutely life shattering. I didn't know she had died by that point.
'When I was on the phone to the nursery she was already dead. They then asked us to go into the side room. They said they had been trying for 40 mins and there was nothing more they could do.
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'It seemed so impossible, I felt so desperate. I was thinking 'I saw you this morning and you were absolutely fine'.
'She was the most precious little person, her little hair was all perfect, and she had only recently got her two bottom teeth. I think back to everything that happened for her to come into the world and then you're in that moment when your world has ended. I'll never understand it.
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'Going home and leaving her, going home to her bedroom, the fear of having to tell her sister who was only 6 at the time. I just thought I couldn't survive without her. The absence of Genevieve is so huge, it altered our lives. What happened to her changed our life forever.'
Fast forward to May 2024 and Kate Roughley had pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and went on trial at Manchester Crown Court.
The family were unaware of the true extent of what had happened to Genevieve until the day the prosecution outlined its case.
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With tears in her eyes, Katie said: 'The trial was absolutely horrific. It was an horrendous experience. We didn't really know what to expect.
"We knew it was going to be very, very difficult. And we both work in the legal system. But it was unlike anything that I've ever experienced before or come across.
'And one of the really difficult things that you find is that Genevieve is spoken about as if she's an object, she's completely dehumanized in the process and that, as her mum, that is something that is really traumatizing to listen to and you feel completely voiceless during that experience.
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'And in a way it feels as though, one it felt as though she died all over again, but also that she's been taken away from you and that your child is no longer your child.'
Both Katie and John praised the support they received from Greater Manchester Police and the Crown Prosecution Service. 'They fought so hard for Genevieve,' said Katie.
As both John and Katie were being treated as witnesses, they weren't told about what had happened to their daughter. But, following legal arguments their statements were agreed to be read to the jury, meaning they would not have to give evidence.
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So it was, on April 16, they were handed a copy of the prosecution opening statement as they walked into the court room.
'We had no idea. We had no idea that she had struggled for so long previously, and I totally understand why this was said to us, but we were told that she'd just fallen asleep and she wouldn't have known,' Katie said.
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'It really was like she was dying in front of me again. It was utterly horrific and I relive the moments that she died every day."
John added: 'The first day was a really surreal experience. We hadn't read any of that before and then we're walking up the steps towards court and we're reading the prosecution's opening which contains what was said to Genevieve, what was done to her, the offensive songs that were made up about her, the names she was called, the items that were thrown at her during the day, the way she was put to sleep.
'We didn't know any of this. And we literally found this out as we were walking up the steps to the courtroom in the morning to then hear the opening statements, so it's such an awful experience."
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Speaking about Roughley, the couple said her evidence felt 'incredibly insulting'.
'Insult's not the right word because it's not strong enough. But it's a terrible thing to have to hear when you know somebody is lying and trying to make up a story about the moments that Genevieve was struggling and fighting for her life. It's so surreal," Katie said.
'It's part of that dehumanizing her and making out that she was very difficult, because she really wasn't difficult. She experienced such love at home and happiness, she's never heard a cross word.
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'So to think of the things that she heard there by various people, the language directed at children is utterly astonishing.
'I'd said to John, 'What if people aren't nice to her?' Because I think every parent thinks that. But he said to me, 'Of course they're going to be nice to her'. Because yes, she might be a bit unhappy being away from home, but people aren't going to be cruel. Obviously they're not going to be cruel.
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'And so to hear all of those things, which confirms all of your worst thoughts and worries, was really, really difficult. And it's something that plays on your mind every day. And to hear that other children experienced the same treatment, it's by sheer luck that no other children died.'
She added that Roughley had 'no remorse whatsoever' and her evidence was 'completely robotic'.
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'Throughout the entirety of the proceedings there was no willingness to accept any responsibility whatsoever for anything that she had done,' said John. .
'Ultimately Genevieve has lost a life and there should be a process of answering all of the questions as to why she lost her life, that's certainly what she deserves because everything that she could have experienced was taken away from her."
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Campaign for Gigi
Earlier this year, the parents launched a campaign aimed at improving safety in nurseries and early year settings. It is focused around three main issues; CCTV within nursery settings, unannounced Ofsted inspections and mandatory safe sleep training.
'None of that of course brings Genevieve back, but we look at this and we think other parents should not have to endure the suffering that we have had to endure,' John said.
CCTV is currently an optional choice for nurseries, the family believe it should be mandatory.
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'I mean the CCTV evidence was so crucial in Genevieve's case. We have absolutely no doubt that without that we simply would not have known what happened to her. And we would have been in a position where there would have been no answers, no accountability,' he continued.
'Nurseries will be able to use that to identify practices that are potentially harmful, to make sure those practices aren't continuing. If there is an incident, review that CCTV, make sure they can change policies, procedures, so that it doesn't happen to another child within their settings.'
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The current Ofsted inspection process is currently once every six years, in terms of inspections in early years settings.
'What that effectively means is you can put your child into a nursery setting at an early age and then that nursery might not be inspected for the entirety of the period that they're there until they actually become school age and go to school. I mean that's just bizarre,' said John.
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'Just as we did, parents place great stock on the Ofsted reports because that's the only real insight they have to identify what is occurring with safeguarding, caring and nurturing in that nursery setting. An announced inspection giving a nursery time to prepare for an inspection.'
He added that Ofsted don't often review CCTV footage as 'not all nurseries have them', and said this is what they were urging for with the campaign. They are also calling on safe sleep to be given more prominence.
'What we should have is proper statutory and mandatory statements as to what safe sleep looks like,' John said.
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Katie added: 'In a setting, a nursery setting or any early years setting, there should be no ambiguity. A child being slept in a cot on a flat surface with a blanket tucked under so it can't go over their head. I mean, it's the easiest thing to follow.'
The Lullaby Trust, who provide expert advice on safe sleeping, are supporting the family in their campaign.
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'We want to honour Genevieve. We're always going to be her mum and dad and we have so much love to give to her. It would be a disservice to Genevieve if we didn't, because then she died and she died for nothing,' Katie said.
'You've got to go out and work, lots of people have to work, and lots of people enjoy going to work. Women should have the opportunity to go to work, but you can't do those things if you are frightened that your child is going to harm at nursery.
'It's something that you wouldn't even contemplate and you shouldn't have to.'
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Katie and John are set to meet with Education Minister for Early Years Settings, Stephen Morgan MP in a few weeks, and are hoping to explore what changes can be made.
'We are hoping he will be responsive to that, and responsive to the concerns parents have expressed. There is a shared desire amongst all parents and amongst all right-thinking people to make sure that children will be safe in nursery settings.
'What we're asking for and inviting the Minister to consider are very straightforward changes which can be brought in, we think, quite easily.'
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Tom Morrison MP, based in the Cheadle ward, will be joining them in the meeting, alongside Jenny Ward, Chief Executive of the Lullaby Trust.
The MP confirmed he was contacted by Katie when he was first elected and immediately got in touch. He has since filed an Early Day Motion in Parliament, which has already received 30 signatures.
'I submitted this motion to Parliament outlining the basis of the campaign. Safer sleeping standards, the no notice inspections for Ofsted and bringing in CCTV and actually using the CCTV properly in the nurseries,' he said.
'The one thing I could say to anyone is make sure you write to your MP and tell them about this campaign because the more voices we get in Parliament talking about the more likely it is we can get that change.
'I think the key thing is now we don't just want a meeting in a handshake and a 'we'll try our best'. I'm positive in the fact that the initial conversations we've had but the fact is we need change in the law, we need to make sure our nurseries are safer and Ofsted is working to the best of its ability so no tragedy like this ever happens again and the only way we can do that is putting the legislation in place and that's what the government have got to do.'

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