A mother who inflicted serious head injuries on her baby, who later died, took a bath and bought a lottery ticket from a shop before taking her to hospital in a taxi, a court has heard.
Sarah Ngaba, 32, accepts that she caused “dreadful, life-shortening and life-limiting” head injuries to seven-week-old Eliza on Nov 13, 2019, but denies murder.
She claims that she is instead guilty of infanticide, the killing of a child under 12 months by a mother, often linked to mental disturbance from childbirth.
Jurors at Birmingham Crown Court must decide whether Ms Ngaba was disturbed at the time of the attack, and whether that disturbance was partly caused by a failure to recover fully from the effects of giving birth.
Jonas Hankin KC, prosecuting, said that Eliza, who was born on Sept 19, 2019, died aged two in August 2022 from an infection following her injuries.
The prosecution alleged that the head injuries inflicted by Ms Ngaba were a cause of Eliza’s death as they had left her profoundly disabled and vulnerable to severe complications from infection, including death.
Mr Hankin told the court a witness who saw Eliza on a video call on the morning of Nov 13, 2019, “could see that her body was shaking”.
The man advised Ms Ngaba to take Eliza to hospital straight away, but the defendant said she needed to have a bath and did not call an ambulance, the court heard.
Mr Hankin added: “Instead, at 8.13am she rang a taxi company.
“She was told that no taxi was available until 8.50am and that, if she needed to get to hospital sooner, she would have to make alternative arrangements.
“Despite that, she settled for the taxi at 8.50am.”
‘Disturbance of mind’
Doorbell footage caught Ms Ngaba leaving her flat at 8.40am, jurors heard, while footage from a local supermarket at 8.59am showed her buying a lottery ticket and obtaining cashback.
Mr Hankin said that the taxi driver arrived at 9.05am and described the defendant as being very calm and not seeming worried.
He added: “In triage and afterwards, staff described the defendant as annoyed, detached and concerned about housing rather than her baby’s medical emergency.”
The prosecutor continued: “The prosecution says that this sequence of events is important.
“Eliza was visibly shaking. The defendant was told to take her to A&E. An ambulance was suggested. She didn’t call one.
“She chose to bathe and dress first, accepted a delayed taxi, went to a supermarket, bought a lottery ticket, travelled calmly to hospital, and did not even rush when she got there.
“That evidence is difficult to reconcile with the suggestion that the assault on Eliza was the product of an acute, childbirth-caused disturbance of mind.
“It is more consistent with a lack of urgency, with detachment, self-concern, and a failure simply to prioritise her daughter’s welfare.”
Ms Ngaba is alleged to have told a nurse that Eliza had not fed since around 5am, and to have made no reference to her having suffered any sort of physical trauma.
Mr Hankin told jurors: “The impression she gave was that Eliza was simply unwell.
“That’s important because Eliza’s neurological injuries were so severe that after they had been inflicted she could not have behaved normally, interacted normally, or fed normally.
“When Eliza was taken out of the pram, the nurse immediately saw she was in a state of collapse: pale, unresponsive, gasping and having seizures.
“Indeed, she was concerned that Eliza was about to die and she required immediate emergency resuscitation.”
The court heard Eliza’s injuries were caused by forceful shaking “together with a very significant impact” to the head, causing a complex skull fracture.
Referring to Ms Ngaba’s claim of infanticide, Mr Hankin added: “The defence will say that, at the time of the assault, the balance of the defendant’s mind was disturbed, and it was disturbed at least in part because she had not fully recovered from the effects of giving birth.
“The prosecution says the evidence does not justify such a conclusion.
“The prosecution says that when the evidence is looked at carefully, the true picture is not one of a childbirth-related disturbance of mind – it is one of anger, frustration, resentment and a loss of self-control.”
The trial continues.
