Mum 'faked' baby's Stratford bus death 'to hide murder'

Rosalin Baker and Jeffrey Wiltshire Image copyright Julia Quenzler
Image caption Rosalin Baker and Jeffrey Wiltshire deny murdering their 16-week-old daughter Imani

A new mother staged her baby's death on a bus in order to cover up her murder at home, the Old Bailey heard.

Rosalin Baker was allegedly given the "thumbs up" by her partner as she boarded the number 25 while carrying the corpse of their daughter.

Jurors were told she then enacted a "nightmare" charade, appealing for help with 16-week-old Imani, who she claimed had suddenly fallen ill.

Ms Baker, 25, and Jeffrey Wiltshire, 52, deny murder.

Passengers did all they could to assist when the alarm was raised on the bus in Stratford on 28 September, the court was told.

'Cold and calm'

"Those members of the public, presented with the nightmare of an infant who was not breathing, did all they could to help," prosecutor Duncan Atkinson QC said.

"They were panicking and distressed. In contrast, Baker was noted to be cold and calm."

While passengers and then paramedics helped, Ms Baker sat off to one side and tried to first ring her sister and then Mr Wiltshire, the court heard.

Imani was declared dead in hospital.

The infant was found to have 40 rib fractures from being squeezed as she was shaken, a broken wrist from her arm being pulled or twisted, and a fractured skull and brain injury consistent with being thrown against the floor or an upright surface, the prosecutor said.

'Only realistic candidates'

Medics previously had concerns that Ms Baker was not bonding with her daughter.

Imani was placed on the child protection register at 10 weeks because officials had not seen her since she was discharged from hospital and Ms Baker would not reveal her home address or the father's identity.

The week before Imani's death, the pair moved into Mr Wiltshire's bedsit in Newham, east London.

Mr Atkinson said the injuries inflicted in those days would have caused the baby "very significant pain and distress", which would have been obvious to any parent.

As a result, her parents were the "only realistic candidates" for causing Imani's death and, at a minimum, at least one of them was responsible for failing to intervene, he added.

Ms Barker, of Colchester, Essex, and Mr Wiltshire, of Newham, deny murder and causing or allowing the death of their child.

The trial continues.

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