‘Our Baby Was Killed on Her First Full Day of Nursery’ | This Morning

We're talking about a story now which is every parent's worst nightmare.

Back in May 2022, John and Kate Meehan enrolled their nine -month -old daughter, Gigi, at nursery.But on her first full day, Gigi was killed after being strapped face down to a beanbag and left unattended.The nursery worker responsible was jailed for 14 years for manslaughter.

Figures taken over a five -year period show there were almost 6 ,000 reports or allegations of children being harmed by nursery workers.And last month, another nursery worker was jailed after the death of 14 -year -old Noah Sibander.

Gigi's parents, John and Kate, are with us today as they campaign to stop this ever happening again.John, Kate, thank you so much for joining us this morning.This is so important, this campaign that you are striving and all the things that you're striving to achieve.Let's first of all start by talking about Gigi.She was little when she was born, tiny wasn't she?

She was, she was three pound twelve when she came into the world.

And what was she like?

She was utterly adorable.She had a real sense of fun and a very, very raucous laugh and an absolutely wonderful personality.Because I know sometimes people think with babies that, you know, they're just babies and they don't really do much, but she had really developed a very strong personality.She was very strong -willed.And her absolute favourite thing in the world is her older sister.She absolutely loved her, and they had such a beautiful relationship.

And it was really, really beautiful for us to see as that developed.And she used to watch her big sister dance.She used to love watching her sister get ready for school.And she liked to join in as best she could.She just really was and is an amazing person.an absolutely adorable little soul.

Yeah, just captivated by what was going on and curious and engaged.A real zest, a real zest for life and we often said she was quite mischievous, so we said that.we're going to expect phone calls from school in the future because she was a very mischievous little soul but wonderful.

So when you have a daughter who you of course like every parent absolutely adore and are keen to see flourish and grow the idea of taking them to their first nursery is really, really important.And it was one that you took very seriously.You did a lot of research into the nursery you took her to, didn't you?

Yeah, we did.Absolutely.As you say, it's such an important decision.So there are sources of information for you as parents.And, you know, we used all of those sources.We looked at the Ofsted ratings.

The Ofsted ratings were good.We knew that that nursery had staff members that have been there for decades.So there was a really good continuity of employment.They were all highly trained at the nursery.new people who had had children at the nursery as well fairly recently and and they passed on good recommendations so you know you consult all of these sources doing your absolute best that you can and certainly that's what we did.

And Gigi did a couple of kind of trial days?She did.That all went okay too?

Yes, it was the classic scenario where, you know, I picked her up and she looked sad.

Yeah.

But then you...Everybody said to me in the family, she'll be fine, it's because she's not used to being away from you.Yes.So, I look back now and, you know, you're looking for signs that you've missed.But I know it's a common scenario for lots of parents.But, yes, I...

She had...She started off in an hour -long session that built up to two hours and then a few more hours and then she had her first full day on the 9th of May.

And of course that first full day was a day that you'll never forget for all the wrong reasons of course.Take us back to that day.What was the sort of the scenario for you all when you first arrived and you dropped her off?

So we both went together because we like to go together to drop her off.And I took her to the door because it was a closed door policy.So you waited outside and a member of staff would then take, well, she took Gigi in.I said to her, I love you, sweetie, and kissed her and then went in.And then I went about my day as, because it was just such an ordinary day.I was working, working from home and there was no clue to me that anything was wrong.

And it's something that haunts me because, you know, I was sitting there doing my work and all these things were happening and I had no idea.So it was in the afternoon when John had gone to pick up both of the girls and he was picking up our older daughter first.And then I got a call from the nursery to say that they'd gone to wake Genevieve up and she was limp and blue.So I was in utter shock at the time.And they told me they'd called an ambulance and said, you must get here.So I didn't really know what was going on at the time.

I was going back and forth between phone calls with the nursery, with John, to say, John, you need to get there.You need to just leave where you are and go.And then the nursery said to me, the police are here and they're going to come and pick you up to take you to the hospital.So I ran out of the house with this idea in my head that if I did that, I'd get there faster.And then the policeman picked me up and took me.And when we arrived at the hospital, they were trying to resuscitate Genevieve.

And in those moments, we both thought, well, she's going to be all right.Because it was just unfathomable that there was any other possible outcome.And they tried to, they did everything they could at the hospital.But we obviously now know that she died while she was at nursery.So there was, in those moments where we thought there was hope, there was no hope.

But you just said then, you didn't know all those things were going on.You didn't know anything was going on.in fact.It wasn't until you got to court that you fully realised the extent of poor Genevieve's last few hours and how badly she was treated.

Yeah, so, we knew that...Genevieve had been placed down to sleep in a dangerous way on her front.But that's really the extent of the information that we had.And it's really only when we got to trial, and we were actually walking from the family room up to the courtroom on the first morning, we were handed a copy of our barrister's opening statement.And that contained a lot of information.For example, Genevieve had toys and items thrown at her.

There were songs made up about her and she was spoken to in a very abusive way by staff members.And, you know, we had told ourselves this story that she had died in her sleep and it was very peaceful.And what we actually found out at trial, which was just devastating, is that she suffered greatly while she died.And finding that out was...I mean, it was just the most horrendous, horrendous thing to find out.

The level of cruelty is just beyond bearable.

And the reason you found out was because there was CCTV footage.It was, yeah.And this was something you hadn't seen.No.

No.

Did you know that that footage existed?

We knew that everything had been captured on CCTV because the police, who were absolutely incredible, they had come out to us very early on and said, we've watched the CCTV and we have some concerns.So we knew that everything was there and we knew that they were looking back at every day that Genevieve had been in the nursery.We just didn't know the extent of what had happened.And the reason for that was because we were being treated as witnesses.So the police couldn't give us that information.And they wanted to do everything right, because they were very, very committed to getting justice for Genevieve.

must have been devastating to see that footage and really understand what had happened.

Yeah.So I have to say we didn't watch the footage.So we decided that during the course of the trial, that's not something that we wanted to see.We know it was very distressing footage.We know that the jury was very distressed by the footage and very affected by it.And we just didn't want to see the footage of what actually happened.

But of course, we had a description of what was contained within the footage, which was very distressing.but hugely important for this to have been captured because we have no doubt that there simply would not have been a conviction without it, probably not even a prosecution without this footage being there.And your campaign now is to ensure that all nurseries have CCTV footage?Yeah, so our campaign has three parts to it.And one of them is the CCTV footage, which is a really, really significant part of the campaign.And the CCTV is not a silver bullet in itself.

It's not the answer to everything.But it's about how you use it and using it effectively.So it's saying it should be mandatory to have CCTV.The management teams within the nursery should be reviewing that proactively.Ofsted should be reviewing that proactively when they come out for inspections.And it's also there as a resource if something does happen for the police and other services to use.

And as I said, it was so vital in Genevieve's case.

Also, the inspections, they're not kind of random at the moment, are they?They call the nurseries and they say, we're coming to evaluate you.So you're campaigning as well for peopleto just... turn up for an inspection so that it takes away that kind of level of preparation for them?

Yeah.At the moment, they don't do unannounced inspections as routine.So you have inspections.Since the start of the campaign, the inspections have moved from once every six years to once every four years.Still not enough, but positive.But yes, you get notice as the setting.

And Ofsted go out, and they don't look at everything within the nursery.They can only look at certain things and of course for those nurseries that aren't doing the right thing, they have notice and they're not going to be doing those sorts of practices on those particular days when Ofsted comes out.It's really important that parents rely upon these ratings so much.If you drive past a nursery, you see these big banners on them saying they're rated outstanding by Ofsted.They're used as a tool for parents and a recruitment tool by the nurseries.So it's so important that the process is robust and effective.

The campaign has already led to some big changes in sleep protocol in nurseries, so you're already having an impact, Kate.and it's been wonderful hearing you talk so beautifully about Gigi and what a wonderful spirit.I mean, what a beautiful little girl she is and she has this character and I imagine she's still with you and your daughters each and every day still.

Yes, she's a really big part of our every day.So her older sister, obviously, has a really beautiful relationship with her, and her younger sister, who never got to meet her, knows all about her.We do lots of different things with the girls, and Genevieve is a big part of that.So if we go somewhere, the girls will always pick something out for Genevieve, because it might seem silly, but we like her to have things as well.You know, you have all this love and this time, and you want to get things for them.And sometimes, you know, I'm buying clothes for the girls and I don't buy something for Genevieve.

It's just that realisation.you know you feel like one I'm letting her down but it just feels wrong so we like to try and do everything together but she's talked about in our house all day long.

That love doesn't just disappear does it?

We've spoken to Ofsted about this and they have said that we find that the vast majority of nurseries are staffed by professionals who really care about children but we will always act immediately where we have concerns that children are at risk of harm and the Department of Education, the early education minister Olivia Bailey said our safeguarding review on digital devices and CCTV is underway.On top of more frequent and higher quality Ofsted inspections we've made the statutory safe sleeping requirements clearer and mental providers to make sure they meet them.Implemented tougher recruitment checks, clearer whistleblowing procedures and new training standards.They are reviewing the digital part of this and the CTTV, but when you hear the compelling campaign that you're talking about and hear all about Gigi, you understand how simple that could be for parents everywhere, just to take that extra layer of safety and security.and support.

Yeah absolutely and you know there's been so much support from parents around the country writing to their MPs and we're so grateful for all the support with the campaign and we certainly hope that that continues.I'm sure it will.

Thank you for coming in and sharing your story and telling us all about Gigi.Thank you.She really is very special.

Absolutely beautiful.