Nursery worker denies force-feeding a child
THE deputy manager at a Port Talbot nursery facing child cruelty charges said she was confident it was run safely, adding: “Otherwise I would not have had my own daughter there”.
Christina Pinchess also spoke of her upset at the intervention of social services into her own family life, after concerns were raised over the behaviour of staff at the Bright Sparks centre.
The 32-year-old, who lives in Cwmavon, was giving evidence during the trial at Swansea Crown Court, where she is facing charges along with nurser owner Katie Davies and colleague Shelbie Forgan.
Her evidence followed that of a student on a work placement at the nursery, who alleged a member of staff grabbed one of the children by the wrists and “flung” him, and also claimed she saw a child being force-fed and another having a hand placed over his mouth to muffle the sound of his crying.
Under questioning from her representative Stephen Rees, Pinchess, who is eight months’ pregnant, told the court that after the nursery had been closed when allegations had been first made, social services investigated her own family life and later gave her ‘a clean bill of health’.
But she said: “I was mortified. It was very emotional and very upsetting. I had gone through three-and-a-half years looking after my daughter without any need for help.
“It is quite scary having social services involved. It is not something I would wish upon anybody.”
She also denied ever covering the mouth of a child to muffle its crying so its mother would not hear.
Mr Rees asked her: “Have you ever been cruel to a child either your own or a child in your care?”
“No,” she replied, adding “It is not the person I am.”
Mr Rees also asked if she had ever seen anyone being cruel to a child at the nursery.
She replied: “No, otherwise I would not have had my own daughter there.”
The trial heard from the mother of another child who attended the nursery, who said her offspring was “really happy to go [to the nursery] and really happy when I picked him up”.
She added: “His development came on in leaps and bounds [after enrolling at Bright Sparks].
“He caught up with his development, as he had been quite behind”.
Asked if she had any concerns about the staff there, she added: “Nothing at all.
“My children would not have gone to the nursery if I had any concerns”.
Ms Pinchess, Katie Davies and Shelbie Forgan all deny child cruelty charges.
Davies, aged 32, of King Street, Port Talbot, faces one joint charge of restraining and force-feeding a child.
Pinchess, aged 31, of Brynna Road, Cwmavon, faces six charges – one of them jointly – of force-feeding a child, covering a child’s mouth with her hand to stop it crying and picking up a child by its wrists.
Forgan, 22, of Mariners Point, Port Talbot, faces one charge of picking up a child by its wrists, and a joint charge of restraining and force-feeding a child.
The trial continues.