A desperate mum shook her baby to death because she wouldn’t stop crying, a court heard.

Ravinder Deol, 35, went on trial accused of killing her own daughter, who had survived major health problems after being born prematurely and ‘incredibly small’.

She allegedly ‘snapped’ and shook the child while her partner was sleeping after a 12-hour nightshift.

He received a phone call from Ravinder just before 4.30pm telling him to ‘come quickly’ as there was something wrong with the baby.

Deol, who worked in childcare for 10 years caring for infants from three months to five years old, was originally arrested after a post-mortem examination revealed that Ravneet had died of a non-accidental head trauma.

Yesterday, she went on trial accused of the manslaughter of six-month-old Ravneet by shaking her to death three years ago, on April 3 2016.

Prosecuting, Jane Bickerstaff QC told High Court judge Mrs Justice Whipple and the jury: ‘Though her age was six months, had she been born at full term she would have been 11 weeks rather than a six month old. She was also incredibly small.

‘There is no suggestion that the defendant meant to kill her child, or cause really serious harm to her.

‘Looking at the circumstances you may well conclude she snapped. She snapped because Ravneet was crying, she snapped out of pure frustration of the situation.’

Her partner told the jury: ‘I saw Ravinder holding Ravneet against her, she was crying. There was no movement in Ravneet’s face. Her eyes were slightly open, her colour wasn’t right, her mouth was slightly open and to the side. I called 999 and started CPR,’ he added.

Asked by the police what had happened Deol claimed the baby had been taking her milk as normal and had been asleep in her Moses basket in the living room but on her return from the kitchen, the baby was unresponsive.

She said she tried to rouse her, which is when she shook her.

Ravneet was rushed from the home in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, to Stoke Mandeville Hospital where everything was done to try to resuscitate her including injection of adrenaline but she was pronounced dead at 17.12pm.

At this stage there was no suspicion of anything other than a tragic death of a premature baby.

It was only three days later, when a procedural post-mortem examination discovered bruising to the skull on both sides, the jury heard.

‘Evidence emerged that Ravneet had been forcibly shaken and had likely received blows to each side of the head,’ the jury at Reading Crown Court heard.

At the time, Deol was aged 32 years and on maternity leave as a nursery assistant having studied childcare to NVQ level two and was a qualified paediatric first aider.

Following the post-mortem examination, police went Deol’s address on April 13 2016 where she was cautioned, arrested and interviewed at Aylesbury police station, the court heard.

During the interview, the the mother said: ‘I started shaking her and my eyes filled up because I was fearing the worst already and that is when I called my partner to come.’

However the interviewing officers did not pick up on that and no further questions were asked about the shaking before she was released on bail, the jury was told.

It was not until August 22 2018 when Deol was re-arrested after all the medical opinions were available, that a better explanation for the shaking was sought and she was charged with manslaughter on September 11 2018.

The court heard that Deol claimed she picked up Ravneet with both hands, holding the baby under the armpit but was in a state of shock and panic and she instinctively shook Ravneet in order to try to get a response from her. However, she did this without supporting her head and shook her for a few seconds,” the jury heard. She did not believe the manner, force or length of shaking was dangerous, the prosecutor added.

Finally, Ms Bickerstaff told the jury that the defendant claimed that she did nothing that could possibly explain the death of Ravneet and that Ravneet had become unresponsive with no pulse from another cause, referencing her prematurity.

The trial continues.

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