Nursery worker Laura Pettitt cleared of cruelty charges

A nursery nurse accused of throwing infants to the floor and forcing them to eat their own vomit because she had lost interest in her job walked free from court today.

Laura Pettitt, 27, was found not guilty on ten counts of child cruelty, including shaking a premature baby, holding blankets over the faces of youngsters who refused to sleep and overfeeding children until they were sick.

A jury at Croydon Crown Court took two days to clear Ms Pettitt of all counts of abuse.

Tanya Adkin, for the prosecution, told the jury on Monday that stress had driven Ms Pettitt to injure the children.

“She did not care about or care for those babies as she was supposed to do,” she said. “She lost interest in them and her job.”

Ms Pettitt’s defence claimed that she had been the victim of a whispering campaign and had been confident and forthright in her handling of the infants.

The nursery nurse, from Beckenham, Kent, was accused of feeding a large baby on a gluten-free diet four bowls of unsuitable food when he should have been given only one.

She also reportedly threw a toddler on a sofa cushion while in a rage, leaving him with a grazed nose after he fell to the floor.

Staff said she had referred to one infant as a “Joe Daki” — rhyming slang for the derogatory term “Paki” — before covering the Asian girl’s face with a blanket when she refused to sleep. In another incident, she allegedly forced a dummy into a child’s mouth until her gums bled.

Nicola Fiddler, a former colleague of Ms Pettitt’s, said that management at the nursery had not taken her seriously when she first reported the abuse. She contacted the NSPCC, after which Social Services became involved.

Ms Pettitt has been working at Little Stars Nursery in Bromley, South London, for seven years and had been in charge of babies ranging from a few months in age to young toddlers.

She had been accused of carrying out the abuse between January 2006 and November 2008. When she was arrested three months later, she told police that she was the victim of malicious rumours.

During the trial, Ms Pettitt claimed that her accusers victimised her because she was a lesbian and were jealous of her managerial position.

Simon Taylor, defending, said rumours about his client had reached “epic proportions”, and that accusations from prosecution witnesses were a “sinister interpretation” of normal events such as babies crying and being sick.

“She is not a monster,” he said. “She is just the victim of a whispering campaign of lies and exaggeration.”

Ms Pettitt broke down in tears and family and friends in the gallery wept as the judge read out the verdict.

Speaking outside court, Ms Pettitt claimed she had been the victim of sexual discrimination, but said she was “relieved” her ordeal was over.

“It’s been hell for the last two years,” she said. “I don’t know what the motivation for this was — I don’t know what was going on in their heads.

“I just want to get on with my life,” she added. “The whole thing was ridiculous. It was concocted by these two girls. I don’t know if it was because of my sexuality.

“Basically, I’m just glad it is all over, justice has been served and I can get on with my life now.”

Her sister, Amy Pettitt, said: “We all know what Laura’s like and we know she’s a lovely person, so we have stuck by her.”

Ms Pettitt said she would not be returning to work in childcare.

Little Stars Nursery said in a statement: “It is a position of great privilege and responsibility to care for young children, and their safety and security is of paramount importance to us.

“We are committed to supporting all our parents and children and are not in a position to comment further on the details of the case.”