Jury sent out in trial over baby death

A jury has retired to consider its verdicts in a trial of a man and a woman charged over the death of a baby.

Lexi Wilband, who lived in Newent, Gloucestershire, was four months old when she died in April 2020.

Melissa Wilband, 28, and Jack Wheeler, 31, both deny causing or allowing her death. Ms Wilband, who is Mr Wheeler's ex-partner, denies the manslaughter of Lexi.

The trial at Bristol Crown Court started on 3 March, and the jury began their deliberations on Tuesday.

Mr Wheeler, of Ledbury in Herefordshire, was previously accused of manslaughter however that charge - which he denied - has now been dropped.

The court previously heard a post-mortem examination gave Lexi's cause of death as bleeding to the brain, caused by a non-accidental traumatic event such as someone "shaking her violently".

Prosecutors previously said the bleeding was probably caused by being violently shaken on more than one occasion.

Lexi collapsed when the incident happened and died in hospital six days later.

Mr Wheeler, who was not Lexi's biological father, said in court the baby went floppy in his arms and stopped breathing.

He was questioned about whether he had shaken Lexi out of frustration to stop her crying. "No," he replied.

Giving evidence in her defence, Ms Wilband told jurors she had not shaken Lexi before her death or previously and did not know how she had sustained those injuries.

Follow BBC Gloucestershire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.