Tiny Toes Nursery in Stockport, UK, was shut down after the tragic death of a baby and revelations of child mistreatment. Learn how understaffing and neglect led to the scandal.
Bollywood Fever: A trusted nursery in Cheadle Hulme, Stockport, turned into a nightmare for parents after the tragic death of a baby and the mistreatment of several other children came to light.
Tiny Toes Nursery, once seen as a safe haven, became the scene of heartbreak on May 9, 2022, when John Meehan received a devastating phone call informing him that his baby daughter, Genevieve, had been found unresponsive.
The nine-month-old tragically died from asphyxia and stress caused by nursery deputy manager, Kate Roughley, who was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 14 years in prison.
Roughley, who was the “baby room leader,” swaddled Genevieve and left her strapped face down on a beanbag for an hour and a half.
Following Genevieve’s death, an investigation revealed that this was not an isolated incident. Just weeks before the tragedy, four other babies had been mistreated in the same nursery.
Rebecca Gregory, a nursery nurse at Tiny Toes, was also implicated. CCTV footage from April 2022 showed Gregory roughly handling the infants, including swaddling them and placing them in dangerous sleeping positions.Â
She even threatened the babies, at one point saying she would “kick” a child for crying. Gregory was arrested and later sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to four counts of assault and neglect.
Parents of the mistreated children were shocked and horrified by the revelations. One parent shared how their son was told to “shut up” before being roughly handled by Gregory.
Another parent expressed guilt and relief that their child survived the ordeal, even though they were traumatized by what happened at the nursery.
Investigations into the nursery revealed serious understaffing and management issues. National guidelines require a 1:3 staff-to-child ratio for children under two years old, but Tiny Toes routinely exceeded these numbers.
On the day Genevieve died, two staff members were responsible for 11 babies. Nursery staff, including Roughley, had raised concerns about staffing levels, but their complaints went ignored.
The nursery’s licence was suspended by Ofsted the day after Genevieve’s death, and further inspections found it had failed to meet legal safety requirements.
Tiny Toes Nursery eventually closed, and a new operator now runs the facility under a different name.
The case has left parents questioning the trust they placed in the nursery. Some shared how their children cried persistently after being dropped off, with one father describing long lines of parents waiting to collect their kids, unable to see what was happening inside due to Covid restrictions.
Now, those parents are left grappling with the trauma and loss caused by the neglectful practices at Tiny Toes.
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