Sarah Higgins, 42, arrives at Leeds Crown Court today where she denies manslaughter
A paramedic accused of killing the baby she was adopting and pretending she fell from her knee said she had ‘never, ever hurt’ the child, a court heard today.
Foster mother Sarah Higgins, 42, is accused of inflicting catastrophic brain injuries on ten-month-old Skyla Giller while caring for the baby alone at her home in Wakefield, West Yorkshire.
But Higgins, who turned to adoption after going through eight rounds of IVF treatments, has insisted Skyla ‘slipped from her arms’ and fell from a low height, landing on her bottom – not her head.
The toddler was taken to Leeds General Infirmary on August 24, 2017 where doctors found a bleed on her brain and performed emergency surgery, but she died two days later.
Leeds Crown Court heard how doctors believed Skyla suffered a ‘significant injury which is unexplained’.
During an interview with police eight months later on April 6, 2018, Higgins denied intentionally hurting Skyla and said the baby had not suffered any head injuries on the evening of the fall.
The court heard Higgins had said: ‘I have never, ever hurt [Skyla]. It never made any sense to me how and what happened.
Higgins denied intentionally hurting ten-month-old Skyla Giller (pictured) and said the baby had not suffered any head injuries on the evening of the fall
‘We have been waiting for an answer wondering how this could happen. I can’t explain it. It’s not like we were thinking of an explanation for all of this. I’ve been open from the start.’
She added: ‘When we got her it was the happiest we’ve ever been.’
The court heard how Higgins was ‘completely committed’ to adoption after going through eight rounds of IVF treatments.
But after they were unsuccessful, they decided to look into adoption.
The court heard how the couple spent a lot of time discussing adoption and how her partner, Martin Dobson, had ‘reservations’.
But Higgins told the officers adopting a baby was ‘all I ever wanted’.
Skyla tragically died of her injuries two days after the fall, but Higgins claimed there was no possible explanation for a spontaneous bleed in the brain.
The court heard officers who interviewed Higgins after she was arrested questioned her version of events, after independent medical professionals claimed her version was ‘inconsistent’.
Prosecutor Richard Wright QC and Detective Constable David White, leading an inquiry team, reenacted the police interview held on April 6, 2018 for the court.
Higgins arrives at Leeds Crown Court on Tuesday. The court heard how investigators asked her if she was ever angry and lost control, but she said: ‘No, I’m never mad at the kids’
Mr Wright QC said: ‘Her injuries are not consistent with falling from a low height.
‘At any point did you lose control of yourself? Were you angry that she had woken up?’
Higgins denied ever being angry at Skyla, stating she would ‘never, ever, be mad at the kids’.
The court heard how Skyla was ‘smaller for her age’ but otherwise completely healthy.
Child services noted at the time Higgins and Mr Dobson, had the ‘perfect environment’ for a young girl to grow up in.
She told the officers how they discovered during the adoption process Skyla’s biological mother was a recovering addict and Skyla was a ‘withdrawal baby’.
But they were undeterred as they were ‘completely in love with Hannah [Skyla]’.
On March 29, 2018 PC Londsdale arrested Higgins at her home, where she was cautioned.
During the subsequent interview she told officers they had been out in the park all day and when they got home they were singing nursery rhymes just hours before tragedy unfolded.
The child was taken to Leeds General Infirmary (file image) where doctors found a brain bleed
The court heard she told officers she ‘knew something was wrong’ when Skyla’s arms were raised and she had a ‘blank expression’.
She told officers how Skyla was ‘grouchy’ after playing so she placed her in a sleeping bag and put in her cot.
But the tot woke up and Higgins carried her and placed her on her knee.
She reaffirmed Skyla had fallen on her bottom but that she caught her immediately and put her back in her cot.
She told officers Skyla had some blood in her mouth but she was more concerned with how her arms were posturing.
In the reenactment, the officers asked Higgins how Skyla came to have two bruises on her arm when she was admitted to hospital.
Higgins told them she didn’t know how the bruises occurred but they weren’t from the day of the incident – as she’d noticed the bruises two days before the incident.
She continued to claim Skyla was completely healthy and was uninjured in ‘any way’ before she was dropped. She denied intentionally hurting or shaking Skyla.
The court heard how the officers had mentioned two independent medical professionals had come to the same conclusion Skyla suffered a highly traumatic fall on her head.
But Higgins denied ever seeing Skyla fall on her head in any ‘way, shape or form’.
Officers then asked her how she accounted for the injuries, to which she said she had ‘no clue’.
But independent professionals who supervised Skyla’s case said Higgins’ version was an ‘inconsistent explanation’.
The court heard how investigators asked Higgins if she was ever angry and lost control.
Higgins, during the interview, said: ‘No, I’m never mad at the kids.’
Higgins denies manslaughter. The trial continues.