Mum 'kills baby' while 'trying to silence her cries', prosecutor claims

A mum killed her two-month-old baby girl by crushing the infant's chest "mostly likely" to stop her crying, a prosecutor has claimed.

Abigail Palmer, 33, is accused of fracturing her daughter Teri-Rae's ribs, and jurors were told it was a "deliberate" injury that “caused or at least contributed" to the newborn's death.

A skeletal examination found the baby, who was subject of a child protection plan, had old and fresh rib fractures after she died in January 2017, Birmingham Crown Court was told.

Palmer, of Solihull, West Midlands, claims she took a nap on a sofa with her daughter lying on her chest, and when she woke up Teri-Rae was "blue and lifeless", Birmingham Live reports.

The prosecution claims the rib fractures were deliberately inflicted, "most likely to silence her crying".

Palmer denies manslaughter and three charges of inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Jonas Hankin QC, prosecuting, said Palmer was facing possible care proceedings after testing positive for cocaine while pregnant.

Teri-Rae was born on October 24, 2016, and was made the subject of a child protection plan which banned her mother from using drugs or alcohol.

Palmer had regular visits from health care and social workers, who did not raise any concerns about the mother and baby, said Mr Hankin.

However on one occasion, he said, the defendant had been spotted going to a public house on December 22, 2016, with Teri-Rae and "secretly" drinking wine.

When challenged about this she allegedly said she thought she was allowed a drink during the Christmas and New Year period.

The court heard that on the afternoon of  January 2, 2017, Palmer had dialled 999 over her daughter, but attempts to resuscitate the baby failed.

Palmer told police there had been nothing unusual about Teri-Rae's behaviour.

She said at around 1pm she had taken a nap on the sofa with he daughter lying on her chest, with her head to the side.

Palmer said she had woken up to find Teri-Rae "blue and lifeless" and had tried to revive her.

Mr Hankin said that initially the death was treated as non-suspicious because there were no signs of injury to her body.

But a skeletal examination later revealed that the baby had suffered a number of healing and fresh rib fractures.

Mr Hankin said: "Her brain had received an inadequate supply of oxygen and had been damaged as a result."

Teri-Rae, he said, had been subjected to "significant injury" which could not be explained by anything that happened at birth or the attempts at resuscitation.

He added: "The prosecution case is that on each occasion the defendant inflicted those injuries on her daughter by forceful compression of her chest, most likely to silence her crying.

"Teri-Rae was in the defendant's sole care. no one else can be responsible."

He claimed that Palmer had also inflicted the older rib injuries that were found.

Mr Hankin said: "The fresh multiple rib fractures inflicted on January 2 caused or at least contributed to Terri-Rae's death.

"These fractures lead to progressive respiratory failure caused by shallow breathing leading ultimately to death from asphyxia."

Mr Hankin said that when Palmer was taken in a police car to Heartlands Hospital an officer noticed the smell of alcohol on her breath, although she claimed not to have had a drink on that day.

The trial continues.