A BABY drowned in the bath while her mum chatted on the phone for almost an hour to her girlfriend and smoked, a court heard today.
Sarah Morris ran into the street screaming after discovering 13-month-old Rosie in the bath with her twin brother, jurors were told.The 35-year-old allegedly left the tots for "prolonged periods when she was chatting away" to her partner Sarah Swindells. Morris denies manslaughter through gross negligence after Rosie died on July 29, 2015, at her home in Greenfield near Holywell, Flintshire.
Jurors were told Morris had been bathing Rosie and her twin in a bath which had been filled around 1ft deep with water.Prosecutor Oliver Saxby QC, told the court: “The water came up roughly to their middles as they sat in the bath.The jury were told the call between Morris and her girlfriend had last for 47 minutes and the mum had checked on her babies on occasion.
But he added: “For periods of this 47 minutes she wasn’t supervising them at all. At one stage the defendant went in her bedroom while on her phone and had a cigarette out of the window.”After Morris discovered Rosie in the bath, she allegedly phoned her friend for nine minutes before running into the street with the stricken tot turned upside down screaming for help.