A young mum is on trial accused of killing her seven-month-old baby who died when he was thrown from a car seat that had ‘not been properly strapped in’.
Morgan Kiely, then 19, had taken her infant son Harry to Clacton beach where she enjoyed a few drinks with friend Stevie Steel, with the adults ‘relaxing in the sunshine’ on July 13, 2022.
But as they embarked on the drive home, Steel hit a parked car, causing their Ford Focus to roll onto its roof, jurors at Chelmsford Crown Court heard.
Harry, who was in a car seat behind his mum, was thrown through an open window and suffered ‘unsurvivable’ injuries after landing in the road.
Alex Stein, prosecuting, told jurors: ‘Very sadly, that child’s seat had not been strapped properly into the seatbelt, and Harry hadn’t been strapped into the seat properly.
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‘Harry was thrown out of the open window out of his seat. He landed on the tarmac and as a young infant he had no way of protecting himself.
‘He suffered a devastating skull fracture.
‘It is a very, very sad case.’
Kiely, now 22, of Clacton, is accused of manslaughter by gross negligence. She denies the charge.
The court heard Harry had an Isofix Maxi-Cosi car seat and base which was installed in Kiely’s grandmother’s car.
But it was taken without the base to carry him to Steel’s car for the day out to the beach, jurors were told.
At the time of the collision, Harry was in a child seat at the rear of the car with his mum in-front of him and Steel driving.
Jurors were told there was no suggestion that the car had been speeding.
The car carrying Harry hit the corner of a parked vehicle, ending up on its roof and Harry was ‘thrown or fell’ out the nearside window.
Mr Stein said the adults were ‘left hanging upside down, held in by their seatbelts’.
Jurors were told Kiely ‘loved her child’ and there is ‘no evidence to suggest that she was anything other than a loving and caring mother’ to Harry.
Mr Stein said: ‘Whatever happened that day, she certainly did not mean for it to happen.’
A 999 call made after the collision was played to jurors.
Kiely appeared to wipe her eyes and cry in the secure courtroom dock whilst the audio was played.
Neighbours rushed out to attend the scene immediately after hearing the incident.
One of them, a retired paediatric nurse, spoke to the call handler and provided some of the immediate care towards Harry.
During this Kiely was said to have been heard saying ‘my baby, my baby, is my baby okay’.
Paramedics also attended but Harry was declared dead at just after 9pm on July 13.
Mr Stein said: ‘We will anticipate that she [Kiely] thought she had secured Harry properly.
‘I’m sure that any of you can appreciate that this would be very difficult for her.
‘No parent would want to admit to themselves that they were the cause of their own child’s death, but the evidence we say is quite clear that she failed to look after Harry properly that day.’
The trial continues.
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