Jury retires to consider verdict in manslaughter trial of paramedic accused of killing her baby foster daughter

A jury has retired to consider a verdict in the manslaughter trial of a Yorkshire paramedic accused of killing her baby foster daughter
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Jurors have been hearing evidence for three-and-a-half weeks in the trial of Sarah Higgins.

Higgins, a Yorkshire Ambulance Service paramedic, is accused of the manslaughter of her ten month old foster daughter Skyla Giller.

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Prosecutors claim Higgins must have caused the fatal injuries to Skyla after losing her temper and subjecting her to a "violent action".Skyla died at Leeds General Infirmary two days after Higgins dialled 999 and told an operator that she had dropped the baby onto the floor while feeding her.

Sarah Higgins is on trial at Leeds Crown Court accused of manslaughter.Sarah Higgins is on trial at Leeds Crown Court accused of manslaughter.
Sarah Higgins is on trial at Leeds Crown Court accused of manslaughter.

Higgins and her partner Martin Dobson are both Yorkshire Ambulance Service paramedics and were in the process of adopting Skyla at the time of her death on August 26, 2017.

At the start of the trial (on February 25) the jury was played a recording of the emergency call Higgins made from her then home on Oakfield Grove, Skelmanthorpe, Huddersfield.

The defendant told the operator that Skyla was unconscious and unresponsive after she had dropped her.

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Higgins, now of Hillcrest Avenue, Townville, Castleford, pleads not guilty to manslaughter.

The 42-year-old defendant gave evidence at the trial.

She told the jury of seven men and five women how the baby ‘slipped from my grasp’ and fell to the floor as she gave her a bed time cuddle.

Higginssaid she was putting Skyla Giller to bed when she lost grip of her

Skyla suffered a catastrophic brain injury and died after surgery,

The jury was brought back into court shortly after the lunch break after requesting to hear the recording of the 999 call again.

They returned to consider the verdict after hearing the recording.