Mum found guilty of killing baby by shaking her

A woman has been found guilty of killing her baby by fatally shaking her.

Melissa Wilband, 28, from Newent, was found guilty of the manslaughter of Lexi Wilband, who was four months old when she collapsed in her home in Newent, Gloucestershire in April 2020.

Wilband's ex-partner, 31-year-old Jack Wheeler, was acquitted of causing or allowing the death of a child.

The jury recorded their verdict after fewer than two days of deliberations.

Mr Wheeler, of Ledbury, Herefordshire, was previously charged with manslaughter - which he denied - but the charge was dropped during the trial.

Tests revealed Lexi suffered bleeding on her brain, likely caused by being violently shaken, both recently and on at least one earlier occasion, prosecutors said.

She died at Bristol Children's Hospital on 18 April, six days after her collapse.

Mr Wheeler, who was not Lexi's biological father, said in court she went floppy in his arms and stopped breathing.

Wilband was told she will be sentenced on 22 May and was granted bail until that date. She left the court in tears.

During the trial, the jury heard Mr Wheeler had been in a relationship with Wilband for about three years.

They had a volatile relationship and were regular cocaine users, the jury were told.

Lexi had been conceived early in 2019 while the couple were on a break.

Wilband faked a DNA test during the pregnancy to try to convince Mr Wheeler he was the father.

Wilband presented Mr Wheeler with a document, which purported to be a paternity test, declaring he was the father but it contained obvious errors. The word "father" was spelt "farther".

However, when Lexi was born on 30 November 2019, a genuine DNA test revealed Mr Wheeler was not biologically related to her.

On 12 April, the night of Lexi's collapse, neighbours heard a woman crying inside the house and a man talking at about 23:30 BST.

A woman was heard saying words to the effect of "what are we going to do now?".

Wilband did not immediately call 999 but instead called the non-emergency NHS 111 number.

She hung up before getting past the automated messages and then called her father who told her to dial 999.

But she called 111 again and it took three-and-a-half minutes before she was connected to emergency services at 23:24.

Paramedics sent to the property found Lexi on the floor.

Wilband told a paediatric doctor Mr Wheeler had carried Lexi upstairs in her bouncer chair and may have hit her head in the process.

Wilband then told a ward sister Mr Wheeler had been "swinging the baby bouncer" while Lexi was inside it.

Both Wilband and Mr Wheeler were present when a decision was made to turn off Lexi's ventilator on 17 April 2020, following the results of an MRI exam.

The jury heard Wilband was by her daughter's side between 20:00 and 23:00 that night but then went to sleep in another part of the hospital, despite knowing her daughter might die.

A staff nurse remained with Lexi and held her hand through the night.

Nurses noticed Lexi seemed to have longer pauses in her breathing on the morning of 18 April and told Wilband to attend the ward. She arrived just after Lexi died.

Messages sent by Wilband to her partner telling him to lie about what had happened were recovered from Mr Wheeler's phone.

Wilband also told Wheeler to burn drugs bags that were in her bedside drawer so they could not be found by police.

Det Insp Adam Stacey, from Gloucestershire Police, said: "Wilband told lie after lie after lie - right from Lexi's conception, and all the way throughout the pregnancy.

"These lies continued and were made to medical professionals trying to save Lexi's life, to the police, and all the way through to her giving evidence in court.

"The jury saw those lies for what they were.

"Lexi should be five years old now with her whole future ahead of her.

"She was shaken by someone who should have been protecting her. Someone who should have put her safety and wellbeing above everything else, her mother.

"Wilband did not do those things and in fact did the exact opposite. She now faces the consequences of her actions."