Toddler Ellie-May Minshull-Coyle died 'in monstrous cage' Published duration 3 October 2018

image caption Coyle and Hitchcott - as well as lodger Connor Kirby (not pictured) - deny manslaughter

A toddler who died after being tied face-down in a "cage" bed experienced "immense suffering", a court has heard.

Ellie-May Minshull-Coyle, aged 19 months, died last March in a flat she shared with her mother, stepfather and a lodger in Lostock Hall, Preston.

A cot had been tied to the bed frame creating a "monstrous cage", Liverpool Crown Court was told.

Lauren Coyle, 19, Reece Hitchcott, 20, and Connor Kirby, 20, each deny her manslaughter.

Prosecutor Christopher Tehrani QC told the court Ellie-May's bed had been pushed against a wall with sheets and bedding placed over the sides to prevent her seeing outside at the Ward Street flat.

The toddler was tied to the mattress of her bed with tight ligatures across her chest and legs and a duvet placed over her, the jury heard.

"By being restrained in her bed in a face-down position... Ellie-May's breathing would have become compromised," he told the jury.

'Wholly avoidable'

Marks on her wrists and ankles suggested she had at some point been tied to the "cage" with blankets, Mr Tehrani said.

"This would have caused Ellie-May immense suffering, distress and upset," he said.

"Ellie-May's death was unnecessary, pointless and wholly avoidable."

On the night of her death, Ellie-May became unsettled, prompting Ms Coyle to send a strongly-worded Snapchat message to a friend suggesting she was irritated.

At about 06:00 GMT on 23 March, Ms Coyle messaged her father to complain about the toddler crying, the court heard.

When Sean Coyle arrived at the flat to check on his granddaughter about three hours later, he realised there was a "terrible problem".

Ellie-May was not breathing and, despite attempts to resuscitate her, she died at Royal Preston Hospital.

Ms Coyle, now of Collins Road, Bamber Bridge; Mr Hitchcott, of The Fieldings, Fulwood; and Mr Kirby, of Octavia Court, Huyton, each deny a count of causing or allowing the death of the child, and two counts of child cruelty.

The trial continues.