Scout leader 'killed baby she was minding by shaking her in a fit of temper'

Karen Henderson, a respected Scout leader, allegedly snapped at her home while looking after Maeve Sheppard.

When the child arrived at hospital she was blind and unconscious, the hearing was told.

Two days later her heartbroken parents allowed her life-support machine to be turned off after doctors said she was brain dead.

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Prosecutor Joanna Glynn said: "This is every parent's nightmare – that you leave your child in the care of somebody who does something that causes your child to die.

"Damage had been inflicted on Maeve's brain by her being propelled forward and back again, by being shaken.

"She would have lost consciousness and she would have become severely unwell at the time she received these injuries and she would have been blinded by it.

"It is not that Karen Henderson intended to kill Maeve or intended to do her really serious harm, it is that she shook her – assaulted her – and those actions caused her death.'

Henderson, who denies manslaughter, was a prominent figure in her local community, Reading Crown Court heard.

She qualified as a childminder in 2000 and often had up to eight children of various ages in her care at her home in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire.

She began looking after Maeve at the end of January 2005, having been recommended to her parents, Ruth and Stephen, by a mutual friend.

Although their daughter had been unwell in the weeks before her death in March 2005, there was no explanation for any serious injury to her brain, said Miss Glynn.

In fact, on the day she was allegedly shaken to death, Maeve appeared 'full of energy'. She was the happiest her parents had seen her for a couple of days, the court heard, and was 'blowing raspberries with her dad' as he got ready for work.

"The cause of death was given as head and neck injuries and it is the prosecu- tion's case that these injuries were non-accidental," said Miss Glynn.

"We do know aspects of caring for Maeve irritated Mrs Henderson and when you look at medical evidence, something happened on March 2 to make her lose her temper – and in losing her temper she shook Maeve."

Henderson, who was said to be 'hysterical', told police Maeve had 'been unwell since the moment she first had her', and claimed that she suffered a serious fit whilst her nappy was being changed.

Mrs Sheppard, 36, who discovered she was pregnant with her second daughter the month before Maeve died, told the court that she needed a childminder after she decided to return to work as a credit controller for Manpower.

At first Maeve was looked after by a family friend but after Christmas 2004 the friend told the Sheppards that she felt Maeve would get more attention if she had a dedicated childminder and Mrs Sheppard asked a minder she knew for a recommendation. Henderson's name was put forward and, after a visit to her home, the couple decided to employ her.

Her voice trembling with emotion, Mrs Sheppard, 36, said: "I was quite happy with the arrangements.

"It was very well-ordered house, she had a schedule and a routine, it was clean and tidy and we got on very well."

She said her daughter woke up happy on the day she was allegedly shaken and appeared to be a healthy baby.

But just after midday she received a telephone call from Henderson telling her Maeve was sick, an ambulance was on its way and she had better come quickly.

It was only later that Mrs Sheppard and her toolmaker husband, Mark, 38, were told that Maeve had injuries "behind her eyes that were consistent with being shaken".

The trial continues.