1. Babysitter ‘shook baby to death’ less than 30 minutes after mum left for work.
A babysitter had been caring for a 10-month-old baby for less than 30 minutes when she “dangerously and excessively shook him” to death, a UK court has heard.
Viktoria Tautz, 34, had been left to care for Joshua Paul, whose mum had left for work just half an hour before she allegedly gave the child the injuries that killed him, The Mirror reports.
The defendant, of north London, pleaded not guilty to manslaughter. She had told police on the morning of August 29, 2014, she had been playing a “horse riding” game with the child, having bounced him on her leg.
Prosecutor Zoe Johnson told the court Tautz “snapped”.
“On that day, for whatever reason, something snapped in the defendant and for a short while she lost her temper with Joshua and assaulted him causing all those injuries,” said Prosecutor Zoe Johnson.
Ms Johnson said Tautz had then put the child in his cot and heard him making “usual baby noises”.
However, when she later found he had fallen unconscious she called an ambulance.
“(Paramedics) found the defendant, Viktoria Tautz, performing mouth to mouth resuscitation on Joshua Paul, a 10-month-old baby,” Johnson said.
The child was rushed to hospital and then transported to another, but could not be saved and died in his parents’ arms on September 1 2014.
“Joshua died because of a head injury that caused bleeding in his brain, bleeding in his eyes and brain and spinal injuries.”
Tautz had been hired by the family just two months prior and passed all necessary checks.
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