Glocs mum denies causing 4-month-old's fatal injuries
Melissa Wilband, 28, is on trial accused of the manslaughter of Lexi Wilband, alongside her then-partner Jack Wheeler, 31
The mother of a baby girl who was allegedly shaken to death has denied causing her injuries.
Melissa Wilband, 28, is on trial accused of the manslaughter of Lexi Wilband, alongside her then-partner Jack Wheeler, 31.
Bristol Crown Court has been told Lexi collapsed at her home in Newent in the Forest of Dean in April 2020, when she was four months old, and died in hospital six days later.
Tests showed Lexi had suffered bleeding on her brain, likely caused by being violently shaken, both recently and on at least one earlier occasion, prosecutors say.
Giving evidence, Wilband told jurors that she had not shaken Lexi before her death or previously and did not know how she had sustained those injuries.
David Aubrey KC, representing Wilband, asked: "Before April 12, had you shaken Lexi?"
She replied: "No."
Mr Aubrey asked: "On April 12, did you shake Lexi?"
Wilband said: "No."
She insisted she had not done anything that could have caused Lexi's head to shake and had not seen Wheeler shake her daughter.
Wilband, of Newent, described how she had been in a relationship with Wheeler for about three years, with Lexi conceived with another man in early 2019, when they had separated for a few months.
The court heard she faked a DNA test during her pregnancy, stating Wheeler was "100%" the "father" of her then unborn child.
Lexi was born on November 30 2019 and a genuine DNA test found Wheeler, of Ledbury, Herefordshire, was not biologically related.
Giving evidence, Wilband admitted faking the document, adding: "I wanted him to be Lexi's dad.. I regretted it from the get-go."
She said Wheeler was reluctant to engage with Lexi after she was born but this changed over time and he was "great" - treating the baby as if she was his biological child.
When asked about the events of April 12 2020, Wilband said 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.
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 Wilband went upstairs to hoover their bedroom, she said.
"Jack was shouting to me, saying that she has gone floppy and she is going blue," Wilband told the court.
"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.
"He put his fingers in her mouth to check to see if there was any blockage. He said there was nothing there so he turned her over and started patting her back. I was panicking."
The court heard Wilband rang 111 before disconnecting the call and phoning her father, before calling 111 again at 11.24pm.
Lexi was taken by ambulance to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital before being transferred to Bristol Children's Hospital, where she died on April 18.
A post-mortem examination gave Lexi's cause of death as bleeding to the brain, caused by a non-accidental traumatic event.
Miranda Moore KC, representing Wheeler, suggested to Wilband that she had shaken her daughter.
She 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."
Wilband and Wheeler, described in court as regular cocaine users, deny charges of manslaughter, and of causing or allowing Lexi's death.
The trial continues.