Woman jailed for at least 17 years for murdering baby she wanted to adopt
A woman has been jailed for life for murdering a one-year-old child she was in the process of adopting.
Ruby Thompson died in August 2012 after suffering severe traumatic head injuries consistent with a ‘high-energy’ impact.
It is thought Katie Tidmarsh, 39, caused the fatal injury by shaking the baby, who had been living with her and her husband for five months.
Tidmarsh, who was found guilty of murder yesterday and given a minimum term of 17 years in prison today, maintains she was never violent towards Ruby.
The couple had been in the process of adopting Ruby when she died, Leicester Crown Court heard during Tidmarsh’s trial.
Tidmarsh claimed the child collapsed at their home in Glenfield, Leicester, rolling her eyes back, flopping onto the floor, hitting her head and becoming lifeless.
She called 999 shortly after and when police arrived a decision was made to take her to hospital in a police car. Ruby’s life couldn’t be saved and she died two days later.
A post mortem showed she had a large skull fracture, as well as bleeding in the brain, the spinal canal, and both eyes – suggesting ‘abusive trauma’.
Tidmarsh, who had previously admitted to her GP she had been suffering anxiety and depression, was arrested on suspicion of murder and interviewed several times.
She told police she thought Ruby may have received her injuries during CPR attempts after the child collapsed.
On the day Ruby collapsed, Tidmarsh’s husband was mowing the lawn before the family were due to visit a farm park.
He later told police Ruby had been ‘alert and happy’ that morning. But after he had been in the garden for around 40 minutes his wife came running out with Ruby in her arms shouting: ‘Ring an ambulance, she is not breathing’.
Officers who responded to the couple’s 999 call said Tidmarsh said she was ‘hysterical’, adding she later gave an account that she’d been feeding Ruby when she suddenly collapsed.
In February 2014, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided not to proceed with any charges, and Tidmarsh and a man who was also arrested were released with no further action.
However, at separate family court proceedings three years later a judge ruled that Tidmarsh was responsible for injuries that caused Ruby to collapse and later die.
After consulting police and looking at further evidence gathered by detectives, the CPS authorised a murder charge against Tidmarsh.
She was arrested at her home Littlethorpe, Leicestershire in July last year and charged with murder, as well as two counts of causing grievous bodily harm.
Tidmarsh denied all the offences, but during after a trial last month was found guilty of murder and one of the GBH charges. She was cleared of the other.
Detective chief inspector Mark Sinski, who was the senior investigating officer, said: ‘It has taken over 10 years to get this case to court and reach a successful guilty verdict.
‘We never lost hope in seeking justice for Ruby and the absolute determination and commitment from the investigation and prosecution team has been undeniably vital in today’s result.
‘The evidence presented to the court, evidence from some of top medical experts in their respective fields, proved that Ruby’s head injury was caused by shaking and a high-energy impact and not from a low fall on to a thick rug as Tidmarsh had claimed.
‘Tidmarsh has evaded justice since 2012 and will now be facing a lengthy sentence for her actions in taking the life of a young child, a child who was placed in her care to give her what was believed to be a better life.’
Sentencing judge Mr Justice Mark Wall said Tidmarsh’s victim was a ‘defenceless young child’ and her actions ‘constituted a gross breach of trust’.
He added: ‘Having heard the evidence, I have concluded that you were, at times of anxiety, ill-equipped to deal with the pressures of bringing up your own child, and had you been open with the social workers you might not have been approved for adoption, or the process would have been delayed until your difficulties had been considered and addressed.
‘Either way, had you approached the adoption process honestly and openly, Ruby might have been alive today.
Mr Justice Wall said Tidmarsh’s actions had ‘ended the life of a young child’ who, according to the foster family who cared for Ruby before she was handed over, was a ‘happy and contented baby who brought great pleasure to those who knew her’.
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