Evil mum who violently shook four-month-old baby daughter to death in horrific campaign of abuse is jailed
Melissa Wilband, 28, had
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Melissa Wilband has been convicted of killing her baby
Credit: SWNS
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Lexi had suffered a bleed on the brain that was likely caused by someone 'shaking her violently'
Credit: Gloucestershire Constabulary
Bristol Crown Court was told the baby collapsed at home in Newent in the Forest of Dean and died six days later.
Lexi had suffered a bleed on the brain that was likely caused by someone "shaking her violently" on more than one occasion.
Wilband was convicted of manslaughter in April following a trial before being sentenced today.
Her boyfriend at the time, Jack Wheeler, was also charged with manslaughter and causing or allowing the death of a child.
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But the Crown Prosecution Service offered no evidence for the manslaughter charge and he was cleared of the second count.
The court heard Lexi was taken to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital where Wilband claimed she was in her bouncer chair when she cried, went floppy then stopped breathing.
The baby was then transferred to Bristol Children's Hospital where the decision was made to switch off her life support.
Jane Osborne KC, prosecuting, said: "Ms Wilband knew that Lexi might die during the night but she didn't stay by her bedside.
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"A staff nurse held Lexi's hand through the night and remained with her.
"On the morning of April 18, Lexi seemed to have longer pauses in her breathing. Ms Wilband was told to attend the ward.
"She arrived just after Lexi had ceased to show any signs of life and had stopped breathing."
The court was told Wilband had told Wheeler, 31, throughout her pregnancy that he was Lexi's biological dad.
But she had actually conceived the baby in early 2019 when she and Wheeler were not together.
Ms Osborne said: "When Melissa Wilband was still pregnant with Lexi, following some queries about the paternity, she presented a document which purported to be a paternity test.
"It declared that Jack Wheeler was the father of the unborn baby. This was obviously not a genuine document.
"The most obvious fact was the fact that the word 'father' was spelt 'farther' which would have been obvious to anybody who knew how to spell it properly.
"Looking at that document exacerbated concerns of Jack Wheeler and his parents. Very soon after Lexi was born, Jack Wheeler ensured that Melissa Wilband submitted samples for a proper test.
"The genuine test showed that he was not the father of Lexi. After the results of this, Mr Wheeler and Ms Wilband nearly split up but Ms Wilband persuaded Mr Wheeler that he should stay with her."
Jurors heard Wheeler moved in with Wilband during the Covid lockdown in February 2020.
The couple, described as regular cocaine users, lived in squalor with every kitchen surface covered in food and utensils.
On April 12, 2020, Wilband phoned emergency crews, with paramedics finding Lexi unresponsive on the floor when they arrived.
While paramedics asked her questions, the mum rolled cigarettes and used her mobile.
When she was asked if she would like to hold her daughter before she was intubated, Wilband declined, the court heard.
In a prepared statement, Wheeler told police that Lexi "suddenly stopped crying and went floppy in his arms".
A post-mortem gave Lexi's cause of death as bleeding to the brain, caused by a non-accidental traumatic event such as someone "shaking her violently".
Further tests found the areas of bleeding in Lexi's eyes were "too numerous to count", jurors heard.
Detective Inspector Adam Stacey said: 'Lexi was four-and-a-half months old when she died.
"Melissa Wilband inflicted such serious injuries that were sadly to prove fatal and tragically Lexi passed away six days later, despite the best efforts of all the medical staff who tried to save her.
"Further medical evidence showed that Lexi had suffered at least one other episode of shaking at some point before this one.
"Wilband told lie after lie after lie - right from Lexi's conception, and all the way throughout the pregnancy. These lies continued and were made to medical professionals trying to save Lexi's life, to the police, and all the way through to her giving evidence in court.
"The jury saw those lies for what they were.
"Lexi should be five years old now with her whole
future
ahead of her. She was shaken by someone who should have been protecting her.
"Someone who should have put her safety and wellbeing above everything else, her mother. Wilband did not do those things and in fact did the exact opposite. She now faces the consequences of her actions."
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Melissa Wilband denied killing Lexi
Credit: Gloucestershire Constabulary
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Wheeler was previously charged with manslaughter but the charge has since been dropped
Credit: SWNS
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