Woman has 'no idea' what caused her baby's death

A woman accused of killing her baby daughter says she has "no idea" what caused the four-month-old's death.

Melissa Wilband, 28, of Newent, Gloucestershire, and her ex partner Jack Wheeler, 31, of Ledbury, Herefordshire, each deny charges of manslaughter and causing or allowing the death of their daughter Lexi Wilband in April 2020.

Ms Wilband began her defence at Bristol Crown Court on Wednesday morning, and said Lexi had suddenly turned pale and floppy at the former couple's home in Newent, before being taken to hospital.

Lexi suffered bleeding on her brain, which prosecutors allege was likely caused by "violent" shaking.

A post-mortem examination gave Lexi's cause of death as bleeding to the brain, caused by a non-accidental traumatic event such as someone "shaking her violently", the jury previously heard.

Giving evidence in her defence, Ms Wilband told jurors she had not shaken Lexi before her death or previously, and did not know how she had sustained those injuries.

David Aubrey KC, representing Ms Wilband, asked her if she had shaken Lexi before 12 April 2020, and whether she had shaken her on the day of her fatal injuries.

She replied "no" to both questions.

She insisted she had not done anything that could have caused Lexi's head to shake and had not seen Mr Wheeler shake her daughter.

Ms Wilband described how, at the time, she had been in a relationship with Wheeler for about three years, with Lexi conceived by another man in early 2019, when they had separated for a few months. They were described in court as being regular cocaine users.

Jurors heard she faked a DNA test during her pregnancy, stating Mr Wheeler was "100%" the father of her then unborn child.

Lexi was born on 30 November 2019 and a genuine DNA test found Mr Wheeler was not biologically related, the court was told.

Giving evidence, Ms Wilband admitted faking the document, adding: "I wanted him to be Lexi's dad. I regretted it from the get-go."

When asked about the events of 12 April 2020, she said Mr Wheeler had carried Lexi upstairs to her bath in a baby bouncer.

"In the corner of my eye, I saw Lexi kind of throw herself back in her bouncer," she told the court.

Ms Wilband said she then took Lexi out of the bouncer, undressed her and put her in the bath.

"She was fine, she was giggling, she was splashing about in the water," she said.

After the bath, the couple put a film on the television in the living room and Ms Wilband went upstairs to hoover their bedroom, she told jurors.

"Jack was shouting to me, saying that she has gone floppy and she is going blue," Ms Wilband said.

"I turned the hoover off and ran downstairs as quickly as I could. Lexi was in Jack's arms. She looked very pale. She was floppy."

Ms Wilband added Mr Wheeler had put his fingers in Lexi's mouth to check if there was a blockage, and turned her over and started patting her back as Ms Wilband "was panicking".

The court heard Ms Wilband rang 111 before disconnecting the call and phoning her father, before calling 111 again at 23:24 BST.

Lexi was taken by ambulance to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital before being transferred to Bristol Children's Hospital, where she died on 18 April.

Miranda Moore KC, representing Mr Wheeler, suggested to Ms Wilband that she had shaken her daughter.

The defendant replied: "I did nothing to my daughter. How could I shake my daughter when I have a bad wrist? I couldn't pick her up properly, how could I shake her?

"I never shook my daughter. That was a heavy-handed person. He was kind and gentle but he has heavy hands.

"My daughter was my life. I never killed my daughter, I am telling you."

The trial continues.

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