During the hospital visit, staff described the defendant’s behaviour as annoyed, detached, and more focused on housing than on her baby’s medical emergency. The prosecutor said this behaviour was significant: “Eliza was visibly shaking, and the defendant was told to take her to A&E—she was even advised to call an ambulance, but she did not.”
Instead of seeking urgent help, the defendant chose to bathe and dress first, accepted a delayed taxi, stopped at a supermarket, bought a lottery ticket, travelled calmly to the hospital, and still did not rush when she arrived. The prosecution argued that such conduct is hard to reconcile with the idea that the assault on Eliza stemmed from an acute, childbirth‑related disturbance of mind, and is instead more consistent with a lack of urgency, emotional detachment, self‑preoccupation, and a failure to prioritise her daughter’s welfare.
Ngaba is alleged to have told a nurse that Eliza had not fed since around 5 a.m. and made no mention of any physical trauma. The prosecution said the impression she gave was that Eliza was simply unwell. Mr Hankin told jurors this matters because Eliza’s neurological injuries were so severe that, after the assault, she could not have acted, interacted, or fed like a normal baby.
When Eliza was lifted from her pram, the nurse immediately saw she was in collapse: pale, unresponsive, gasping, and suffering seizures. The nurse was so alarmed she feared Eliza was about to die and required immediate emergency resuscitation.
The court heard that Eliza’s injuries were caused by forceful shaking plus a very significant impact to the head, resulting in a complex skull fracture. Referring to Ngaba’s claim of infanticide, Mr Hankin said that the defence will argue that, at the time of the assault, her mind was disturbed, at least partly due to not having fully recovered from childbirth. The prosecution, however, maintains that the evidence does not support that view. Instead, the prosecution says the evidence reveals not a childbirth‑related disturbance, but a picture of anger, frustration, resentment, and a loss of self‑control. The trial continues.
