Blackpool mum Laura Langley found not guilty of 'squeezing her baby to death' in booze-fuelled rage

Laura Lee Langley, 38, was charged with murdering her seven-week-old daughter Edith at her home in Belgrave Road on November 20, 2020.

Edith stopped breathing shortly before 4am and paramedics were called to the home in Marton where they tried to save her live with chest compressions.

She was taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital but could not be revived and was pronounced dead an hour later.

A post-mortem examination found 33 fractures to her ribs - to the back, front and the side of Edith’s ribcage. Pathologists suggested these injuries had been caused in the hours immediately before her death by a severe compressive force, or squeezing, to her ribs.

In March 2022 – 16 months after Edith’s death – her mum, Laura Langley, was arrested on suspicion of her daughter’s murder. She was also accused of assault, ill treatment and/or neglect of the baby in the week before she died - charges which she fiercely denied.

Mum accused of booze-fuelled murder

In October 2023, a trial was opened at Preston Crown Court, with Ms Langley accused of causing the fatal injuries to Edith by ‘squeezing her to death’ in a deliberate, booze-fuelled attack.

Prosecutor Timothy Cray KC said: “The post-mortem evidence suggests that Edith died from terrible injuries. Virtually all her ribs had been broken.

“The opinion of the pathologists who carried out the examinations of Edith’s body was that 30 of these fractures had been caused in the hours immediately before death by severe compressive – or squeezing – force being applied to her ribs.”

Mr Cray said the experts also concluded that the remaining three fractures – cracked ribs – were older and caused two to four days before death.

The prosecutor added: “We say that the defendant carried out a serious assault on Edith in the days before and, later, she carried out a second and fatal attack of the same kind.

“It was not a one-off. She died and we say that’s murder.”

Expert evidence called into question

But during the trial, concerns were raised over the expert opinion which the prosecution put forward to present its case for murder.

The opinion of Prof David Manghan, an expert in bone health, was called into question by a different expert appointed by the defence who reviewed the post-mortem examination results and found Edith’s injuries were consistent with CPR used at the hospital.

The jury was discharged and a third expert, Prof Anthony Freeman, was then instructed to review the evidence and consider the experts’ contradictory opinions ahead of a new trial set for Monday (November 18, 2024).

He agreed the method of resuscitation used at the hospital could explain Edith’s fatal injuries.

Mum cleared of murder

Shortly after the trial reopened at Preston Crown Court yesterday, prosecutor Timothy Cray KC appeared to concede defeat in his case for murder against Ms Langley.

Unable to offer any further evidence on behalf of the Crown Prosecution Service, he said: “He [Prof Anthony Freeman] gives the opinion that the method of resuscitation used at the hospital could explain the location and distribution of the fractures. It now follows that there are two experts with great experience in relevant fields who contradict the crown.”

Mr Justice Morris found Ms Langley not guilty on all charges.

He said: “These verdicts have the same effect as if the defendant had been tried and acquitted by a jury.”