Ellie-May Minshull-Coyle was found dead in a flat she shared with her mother Lauren Coyle and Reece Hitchcott last March

A mother admitted she 'smacked' her infant daughter in text messages sent to her partner just days before the toddler died in her 'monstrous cage' bed.

Ellie-May Minshull-Coyle was found dead in a flat she shared with Lauren Coyle and Reece Hitchcott in Preston, Lancashire, last March.

The 19-month-old's Frozen bed was 'turned into a cage', with its open sides enclosed by the slatted sides of a cot lashed together with ligatures and electrical flex.

The young couple were cleared of Ellie-May's manslaughter at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday - and their trial revealed a series of texts about the infant's behaviour.

The messages included threats to punish the toddler, the Liverpool Echo reported.

In one chilling text, Coyle said to Hitchcott: 'Stressed with Ellie. She was biting me so I put her in her room. She is banging her head off the walls. I have smacked her loads too.'

Hitchcott replied: 'I will sort her out when I come home. I will put her in her room.'

Another was sent on March 20, just three days before Ellie-May was found tied to her mattress with tight ligatures across her chest and legs.

Coyle said: 'Ellie playing up again, shoved her in her room.'

Hitchcott replied: 'She will behave when I am home ha ha.'

Other messages from Coyle detailed how she was 'so stressed' that she wanted to 'jump in front of a train.'

Coyle (left), 19, and Hitchcott (right), 20, were found not guilty at Liverpool Crown Court on Friday of the manslaughter of Coyle's 19-month-old daughter

Another series of messages complained that the one-year-old was keeping the teenage mother up at night.

The jury found the pair guilty of causing or allowing her death, one count of child cruelty by 'caging' the child in her bed, and another count of child cruelty by restraining her in the bed on Friday.

Their lodger, Connor Kirby, 20, of Huyton, Liverpool, was cleared of all of the charges.

Ellie-May was alleged to have been bound to the bed face-down. There were also marks on the child's wrists and ankles, suggesting she had been tied to the 'monstrous cage', the jury heard.

A post-mortem examination concluded the youngster's death was caused by 'forcible restraint by ligatures in a face down position complicated by hyperthermia'.

Coyle, of Collins Road, Bamber Bridge, Preston, said the bed had been converted by Hitchcott, of The Fieldings, Fulwood, Preston, with the aim of getting the toddler into a routine of sleeping through the night.

Ellie-May was alleged to have been bound to the bed face-down, with marks found on the child's wrists and ankles

She told the court that Ellie-May, her daughter by ex-boyfriend John Minshull, was her 'world'. The case was adjourned for sentencing at a later date.

Granting Coyle and Hitchcott bail, judge Mr Justice Dove said: 'That is no indication whatsoever as to what the likely sentence might be.'

Ellie-May's father John Minshull said: 'Ellie-May was a wonderful little girl, she was so special to everyone around her. She was always happy and the best daughter anyone could ask for.

'The fact that she was taken away from us broke our hearts because she was loved and she will be missed deeply.'

Brett Gerrity, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: 'This is a tragic case in which a young and innocent child was treated in the worst possible way by those who should have kept her safe from harm.

'During the trial the prosecution proved that, by restraining Ellie-May in her bed, or knowing that she had been restrained in such a way, Lauren Coyle and Reece Hitchcott wilfully contributed to or directly caused her untimely death.

'Throughout the case the defendants denied responsibility for causing her death and blamed each other, but today the jury have found the child's mother and her partner guilty of causing her death and neglecting her.

'I would like to express my sympathy to Ellie-May's family and loved ones.'