Crowborough parents stand trial accused of killing eight-week-old baby daughter

Holly Roe suffered brain injuries at least three different times and her tiny rib cage had been fractured in 12 places before paramedics found the eight-week-old cold and unresponsive.

The final head injuries would have left Holly unconscious despite the extreme pain from her rib fractures, a jury was told.

Mum Tiffany Tate, 22, and dad Michael Roe, 33, are both accused of murdering their baby daughter.

Sally Howes QC for the Crown said on the balance of evidence, the prosecution case is Mr Roe murdered his daughter.

“It’s the position of the prosecution that the strength of the evidence suggests it’s Michael Roe who is responsible.

“There is also evidence for you to consider Tiffany Tate had the opportunity for that unlawful act.

“It is for you to decide who is guilty of murder.

“Michael Roe is the last person to see her alive.

“The injuries were of such severity, she would have been unconscious at the time of injury.

“Michael Roe clearly had no patience with Holly during feeding.

“Feeding her through the nose with a syringe and pinching her toe to get her to cry.”

Ms Howes QC said there had effectively been a dress rehearsal of Holly’s death when she stopped breathing a few weeks before.

“When she stopped breathing, she was in the sole charge of Michael Roe.”

Both parents are accused of murder and allowing the other to kill their baby.

Miss Tate admitted she had difficulty bonding with premature Holly.

She told police in an interview she was frustrated and had lost her temper during feeding.

Ms Howes told the jury they would have to consider if she had the opportunity to shake her baby in a 20-25 minute window while Mr Roe was asleep.

The scientific evidence showed Holly had been unlawfully killed, Ms Howes said.

Jurors were told they must decide which parent murdered the baby.

Post mortem examinations concluded her fatal injuries were caused by shaking on at least three different occasions.

Experts described her injuries as non-accidental, abusive head trauma.

Sally Howes QC for the Crown said: “This is consistent with that brain being rattled around.

“Despite being two months premature, Holly Roe was doing well when she was discharged from hospital.

“This was a perfectly healthy baby who finally, catastrophically and fatally collapses,” Ms Howes said.

She would have been noticeably ill to any carer, experts said.

The court heard Mr Roe told the health visitor Miss Tate felt like throwing Holly against the wall during a night feed.

She admitted struggling to bond with the baby during her first few weeks as a premature baby in hospital and having difficulty waking up for night feeds.

Mr Roe told the nurse Miss Tate could not cope with the new baby at night but was a good mother during the day.

Former foster child Miss Tate was only 19 when she moved in with Mr Roe.

They lived together at Alderbrook Road in Crowborough when baby Holly was born two months premature on July 14, 2018.

Miss Tate admitted she had trouble bonding with her daughter while she was still in the premature baby unit which continued after Holly was allowed home.

When the baby cried, she became frustrated and panicked, Ms Howes said.

Mr Roe told a health visitor he took overnight feeds as Miss Tate had no patience with Holly.

The court heard Miss Tate agreed she told her former partner she felt like throwing the baby against the wall.

Emergency services were called to the house in the early hours of Monday, September 10, 2018 after the couple reported she was not breathing. Holly was found to be cold, not breathing and with no heart activity at all, Ms Howes said.

Paramedics battled to save her before she was taken to Pembury Hospital in Tunbridge Wells where she was pronounced dead.

Port mortem examinations showed eight-week-old Holly had suffered head injuries on three different occasions before her death and 11 rib fractures.

The first was a few weeks before her death, the second several days before and the final brain injury within 48 hours, Ms Howes said.

The pattern of injuries showed they were the result of non-accidental and abusive head trauma, consultant neuropathologist Prof Safa Al-Sarrau said.

Forensic Pathologist Dr Charlotte Randall said her death was due to head injury.

The likely mechanism of Holly’s injuries would have been violent shaking.

Multiple fracture injuries to Holly’s ribcage were also often associated with shaking-type head injury, Ms Howes said.

Former consultant paediatric neurosurgeon Peter Richards said in his opinion Holly’s behaviour would not have been normal following the injuries she suffered.

“He would have anticipated her being unconscious from the point of injury.”

Dr Nicola Cleghorn said Holly would have been extremely distressed by the pain from her rib fractures. They would not have been caused during resuscitation, Ms Howes said.

“Dr Cleghorn considers the most likely cause of the rib fractures to be an inflicted injury, most likely excessive squeezing around her chest and, in conjunction with the opinions about the traumatic brain injury, would support there having been a shaking episode,” Ms Hawes said.

The jury have been told the defendants are back in court after their original trial was abandoned in March following the national lockdown.

The defendants sat at a social distance in the secure dock without speaking to each other.

Miss Tate and Mr Roe both deny murder and causing or allowing the death of their baby.

The trial at Hove Crown Court continues.