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Melbourne babysitter not guilty of manslaughter, jury decides | Melbourne babysitter not guilty of manslaughter, jury decides |
(about 1 hour later) | |
A Victorian babysitter has been cleared of killing a 10-month-old girl left in her care. | |
Chloe Murphy died of head injuries in December 2010, two days after she had been dropped off at the Kensington home of babysitter Ketapat Jenkins. | |
Jenkins, 30, was accused of deliberately assaulting Chloe while her parents went out for dinner and a movie, but pleaded not guilty to manslaughter. | |
She wept in the dock on Wednesday as the Victorian supreme court jury cleared her of culpability in the infant's death. | |
Prosecutor Bruce Walmsley SC had told Jenkins's trial that Chloe was in good health when her parents Anthony and Phurithee Murphy left her with Jenkins. "She was perfectly well, acting happily, acting normally," he said. | |
But when the Murphys returned, Chloe was lying limp and unresponsive in Jenkins's arms and struggling to breathe, Walmsley said. | |
Chloe was taken to the Royal Children's hospital with a fractured skull and arm and underwent emergency surgery. She died two days later, on 5 December. | |
Jenkins's barrister, Peter Morrissey SC, said there was no evidence his client attacked the baby. He said Chloe's injuries were most likely sustained in a fall. | |
Anthony Murphy held back tears as the jury cleared Jenkins of his daughter's death. | |
The Murphys did not comment as they left the court. |
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