Mother, 35, is found GUILTY of killing her 13-month-old baby girl who drowned in bath while she chatted for 47 minutes with girlfriend on phone
- Sarah Elizabeth Morris, 35, found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter
- Rosie, aged 13 months, was left in the bath alone with her twin in July 2015
- Morris was on 47-minute call when she died and called friend before ambulance
- Mother had been warned about leaving children in the bath before child died
Sarah Elizabeth Morris, 35, pictured today
A mother has been found guilty of gross negligence manslaughter after her baby drowned in the bath at home.
Sarah Elizabeth Morris, 35, was convicted in court today over the death of her 13-month-old Rosie.
Little Rosie was in the bath with her twin in July 2015 at their home in Flintshire, Wales, while her mother was on the phone to her partner.
The call lasted 47 minutes while the twins were in waist high water.
When she returned to the bathroom her daughter was not breathing.
Morris called a friend for ten minutes before calling 999.
During the trial, the court heard that Morris, who has been unable to provide a clear account of what happened, was on the phone to her then partner Sarah Swindles for almost 50 minutes while her children were in the bath.
Morris said the water was about waist high on the babies and there had never been a problem with them being in the bath before.
But she claimed she came into the bathroom to find the plug had been pulled out by the twin, who cannot be named for legal reasons, and Rosie was lying on her back with no water in the bath.
Sarah Elizabeth Morris arriving at Flintshire Magistrates Court, accused of the manslaughter of her baby daughter
The trial was held at Mold Crown Court in Wales after the child died in 2015
Neighbours helped to try to resuscitate the baby until paramedics turned up and the infant was taken to Ysbyty Glan Clwyd in cardiac arrest. Rosie died several hours later.
During cross-examination Oliver Saxby QC said the mother had been warned twice in four months about the dangers of leaving children alone in water.
Judge Simon Picken told the jury at Mold Crown Court, ‘mere negligence was not enough’.
He said: ‘There must be gross negligence. Even very serious errors of judgement are not enough. You must be sure there’s negligence so bad you regard it as criminal.’