Murder-accused mum ‘acted out baby death on bus’

A young mother calmly staged the death of her premature baby on a bus in a bid to cover up the horrific murder of the child at home, a court has heard.

Rosalin Baker, 25, was given the “thumbs-up” by her 52-year-old boyfriend, Jeffrey Wiltshire, as she boarded the number 25 in east London, holding the body of their 16-week-old daughter, Imani, jurors were told.

As passengers travelled to work on the morning of September 28 last year Baker acted out a “nightmare” charade and appealed for help, saying her baby had just fallen ill, the Old Bailey heard.

But Imani was already dead after being subjected to at least three severe attacks and being flung on the floor, jurors were told.

Prosecutor Duncan Atkinson QC told jurors: “During the course of the bus journey Baker suddenly sought help from her fellow passengers for a problem that she said she had just identified with her daughter.

“Those members of the public, presented with the nightmare of an infant who was not breathing, did all they could to help.

“They were panicking and distressed. In contrast, Baker was noted to be cold and calm.

“As those members of the public, and then paramedics, sought to help her child, Baker sat to one side and sought to contact first her sister and then Wiltshire.”

The court heard Imani was pronounced dead in hospital, and her parents went on to give a false account of what happened to the police.

The couple deny murder and causing or allowing the death of their child.