Save my Naomi

Sep 12 2008 by Kevin Hughes, Chester Chronicle

A MOTHER walked into a hospital cradling her daughter in her arms and calmly told staff: “I think she’s dead”.

Joanne Hill, 32, arrived at the Countess of Chester Hospital’s A&E department carrying Naomi Hill’s “lifeless body” at 3.35am on Tuesday, November 27, 2007.

Mrs Hill is on trial at Chester Crown Court charged with murdering Naomi, four, by drowning her in the bath.

Naomi was taken to a resuscitation room but pronounced dead at 3.55am.

From the witness box nurse Jennifer Moore, who was on duty at the time, said on arrival Naomi’s body was cold, stiff and had a mottled appearance and was fully clothed.

She said: “I thought it strange, at that time of the day, the child was in daytime clothes. She was not in pyjamas.

“The mother crouched down and put her hands on the child’s chest. I took that to mean she wanted CPR, she was moving her hands up and down.”

Mrs Hill was taken to the relatives room while Naomi was given CPR in the adjacent resuscitation room.

When asked what had happened the court heard Hill giggled and said: “Nothing, I don’t know.”

Nurse Moore said: “She asked me if we were going to save her.”

Nurse Helen Stroyd sat with Mrs Hill in the relatives room and could smell stale intoxicants, her make up was smudged and her hair untidy.

She told prosecuting barrister Michael Chambers QC: “She asked was Naomi going to die? She then asked me could we wave a magic wand to make her better?”

When told Naomi was dead by Doctor Noel Murphy, a consultant paediatrician, nurse Stroyd said: “She had disbelief in her face and put her face in her hands.”

Earlier, in a statement read out by Mr Chambers QC, hospital receptionist Valerie Woodhall told the court: “I looked up to see a female, a child in her arms. The child appeared to be completely lifeless, she appeared to be having difficulty holding the child.

“As I approached, the female looked up and said ‘I think she is dead’ she kept repeating it and stroking her head.”

Nurse Moore said Mrs Hill did not seem “particularly upset”.

She told Mr Chambers QC: “I would expect a mother would be hysterical and distressed but she was not, she was quiet really.”

She said Hill, of Goya Close, Connah’s Quay appeared “unsteady on her feet”, “unkempt” and her hair was “messy”.

The trial continues.