The mother and father of a 10-week-old newborn girl discovered in a Tottenham home with 19 rib fractures have been charged with her murder and are expected in court next week.
Lauren Saint-George, 25, of Bonnington House in Enfield, and Darren Hurrell, 25, of Meadow Lane in Derby, will stand trial at Wood Green Crown Court on Monday, June 13.
On June 1, 2021, Hurrell and Saint-George were both charged with the murder of a child under the age of one. Manslaughter and assault charges were also filed against them. Lily-Mai Hurrell Saint George, their daughter, was discovered unconscious at a flat in Tottenham on January 31, 2018.
She was rushed to North Middlesex Hospital in a ‘critical and life-threatening condition’ and was transferred to Great Ormond Street Hospital where she died two days later.
In February, a post-mortem examination at St Pancras Coroners Court found Lily-Mai had been ‘unlawfully slain.’ She was discovered with 19 rib fractures, a leg fracture, and many brain bleeds. The couple’s daughter was born two months early and spent two months in the hospital before being released on January 25 to her parents.
The coroner determined at the inquest that Lily-injuries Mai’s were consistent with’shaking type injuries,’ and that health experts had expressed their worries before the baby was discharged from the hospital.
‘I have heard the evidence of various professionals who were charged with Lily Mai’s care, the physicians and nurses at Barnet Hospital, who were highly worried,’ said senior coroner Mary Hassell.
‘There were other parents who were of the same view. And yet Haringey Children’s Services did facilitate that discharge and that is ultimately bewildering to me.
‘I will make a prevention of future deaths report to Haringey Council.
‘This is a very, very sad story and I’m afraid it is not the first time that a story has been told.’
The case had initially been reviewed by the Crown Prosecution Service but due to insufficient evidence, they had decided not to pursue charges against either parent. But, the couple were arrested on April 16 of this year, and charged with Lily-Mai’s murder.