A doctor has dismissed a mother’s claim that her ‘murdered’ baby daughter was able to crawl and feed after her boyfriend ‘stamped on her head’ – leaving her with ‘catastrophic skull and neck injuries.
Chelsea Crilly, 20, told medics her 12-month-old baby could drink milk and crawl at speed after the alleged attack at a flat in Radcliffe, a jury was told.
Crilly’s boyfriend Jamie Chadwick, 22, is accused of murdering Oriana Crilly-Cifrova in a violent assault that caused a fractured skull, a fractured vertabrae in the neck and two fractured ribs.
As the trial entered its third week at Manchester Crown Court on Monday, Dr Sarah Dixon, a consultant paediatrician at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, said the baby’s injuries would have stopped her crawling or being able to feed.
Chelsea Crilly (pictured), 20, told medics her 12-month-old baby could drink milk and crawled at speed after the alleged attack at a flat in Radcliffe, a jury was told
Oriana died at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital when treatment was withdrawn at 6.19pm on October 17.
Crilly pleaded not guilty to causing or allowing the death and Chadwick denied murder.
Prosecutor Peter Wright QC said Crilly had been told by several different sources, including social services and a police officer, that it was dangerous to leave her child alone with Chadwick.
At the time of the incident he was under investigation by the police and social services in relation to injuries sustained by a separate child with a different mother.
These warnings came regularly from the point the pair got together in late 2018 through to when they began living together in 2019 and even until the days before the horrific incident, the prosecutor claimed.
Despite these warnings, the couple, along with baby Oriana, moved into a flat together in Radcliffe, where Chadwick’s sister Ayesha Mohammed was already living.
The prosecutor said that the night before October 16, both Crilly and Chadwick had taken a ‘cocktail’ of cannabis, cocaine and vodka, while leaving Mrs Mohammed to look after the child.
Dr Dixon told the jury that Orianna’s injuries were unsurvivable and that that the medication and treatment she received was to make her final hours more comfortable.
Asked by Mr Wright how visible the injuries would have been, Dr Dixon said: ‘It would be readily apparent to any capable adult that she was very seriously ill.’
The child was taken to the Royal Bolton Hospital on October 16, 2019, before being rushed to the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital where doctors realised the extent of her injuries.
Crilly’s boyfriend Jamie Chadwick, 22, is accused of murdering Oriana Crilly-Cifrova in a violent assault that caused a fractured skull, a fractured vertabrae in the neck and two fractured ribs. Pictured, Crilly outside court
The baby had suffered bruising, swelling and a fracture to the skull, bleeding between the brain and skull and an injury to the brain itself, the doctor confirmed.
She also suffered serious wounds from two ‘direct and forceful blows’ consistent with being picked up and swung, hit ‘very hard’ with a blunt object or having someone stamp on her head, the court was told.
The jurors were told Orianna’s mother had provided an account to the doctor of what had happened but Dr Dixon told the court that this account was ‘incompatible with the injuries found’.
Crilly said Orianna was able to suckle or drink milk but Dr Dixon told the jury it was her opinion that Orianna would not have been able to suck or swallow.
As the trial entered its third week at Manchester Crown Court on Monday, Dr Sarah Dixon, a consultant paediatrician at Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, said the baby’s injuries would have stopped her crawling or being able to feed. Pictured, police at the scene
The doctor also said the mother’s claim her baby didn’t lose consciousness was ‘incompatible in my opinion’, adding that a suggestion that the baby was capable of being settled was also ‘incompatible’ with the injuries.
The injuries were ‘consistent with shaking’, she said.
It was put to the witness that there had been an account that the baby had ‘crawled at speed’.
The doctor said it was the reaction of very young children and infants to reduce activity to reduce discomfort or pain.
She said she would expect a crawling movement would move the fractured rib ends and that it was ‘most likely’ cause a child to reduce activity to avoid pain.
Crilly said Orianna was able to suckle or drink milk but Dr Dixon told the jury it was her opinion that Orianna would not have been able to suck or swallow. Pictured, police at the scene
‘At the time of her death, they were living together under the same roof,’ Mr Wright told the jury.
‘Crilly was aware of the risk, she chose to ignore it. She was fully aware of the risk from him and chose to ignore it.’
He added that the alleged attack by Chadwick on the baby was no accident and had been intended to cause significant wounds to the 12-month-old.
Mr Wright said: ‘In inflicting those catastrophic injuries on Oriana, Jamie Chadwick had at least intended to cause her really serious harm.’
Chadwick is currently in custody and Crilly is on bail.
The trial continues.