A mother who shook her four-month-old daughter to death has been jailed for 15 years.
Melissa Wilband was accused of the manslaughter of little Lexi Wilband, alongside her then-partner Jack Wheeler. Bristol Crown Court heard baby Lexi collapsed at her home in Newent in the Forest of Dean in April 2020, and died in hospital six days later.
Tests showed Lexi had suffered bleeding on her brain, likely caused by being violently shaken, both recently and on at least one earlier occasion, the jury was told. They also heard that on the night Lexi died, her mum spent three hours with her before leaving to go to sleep in a different part of the hospital.
Prosecuting, Jane Osborne KC said Wilband was aware that her baby might die through the night but did not stay at her bedside. She said: "A sta