Mother accused of killing three babies seemed uncaring, court hears

A MOTHER in Britain accused of suffocating three of her own babies did not appear particularly caring, a nurse told a court yesterday.

Trupti Patel, 35, is charged with murdering her two sons and daughter by either squeezing their chests or smothering their faces so they could not breathe.

Mrs Patel's first son Amar died aged three months on December 10, 1997, apparently a victim of cot death.

After Mrs Patel again fell pregnant and gave birth to her second son, Jamie, in 1999 she was offered the care of a special scheme at her home in Maidenhead, Berkshire.

Community paediatric nurse Helen Johnson told Reading Crown Court that the Care of the Next Infant Scheme was designed to educate parents about the risks of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (cot death) and to help prevent any further tragedies.

She said qualified pharmacist Mrs Patel and her husband had been provided with help such as a room thermometer and offered the loan of a special apnoea monitor designed to pick up any irregularity in a baby's breathing or movement. Mrs Johnson said she had visited the family at their home on June 28, 1999 for around one-and-a-half-hours. She said Mrs Patel was upstairs in bed with Jamie by her side. She told prosecutor Paul Dunkels QC that she had been concerned that baby Jamie was too hot under the duvet.

"Trupti was in bed and Jamie was next to her in the bed with the duvet pulled over him as well."

Mrs Johnson said she had suggested to Mrs Patel that her son may be too hot especially as he had a rash on his face caused by infected milk spots.

But, she told Mr Dunkels, her advice was ignored. "She didn't respond at all to my request. I asked her again to pull the duvet back but again no response." Mrs Johnson said she did not intervene but was concerned because she said: "One of the reasons that children can become victims of cot death is they overheat, so being under an adult's duvet I thought is too much for them."

Mr Dunkels asked how Mrs Patel seemed throughout the visit.

Mrs Johnson said: "My impression was that Mrs Patel was very flat, flat as in not unresponsive, but she didn't seem particularly demonstrative towards Jamie.

"During the visit she didn't touch him. He was next to her and she looked at him, but she didn't make contact with him."

Earlier, consultant obstetrician John Fairbank had told the court Jamie's birth had been "unremarkable" and that he was a healthy 6lb 3oz baby when born. When Jamie died on July 6, 1999 aged just 15 days the pathologist had said the death was a "very unusual event". But it was not until the death of Mrs Patel's daughter Mia on June 5, 2002, 22 days after she was born, that police investigated.