Evil Mansfield mother who scalded her 19-month-old daughter to death due to be sentenced today

Katie Crowder was found guilty of murdering her daughter Gracie in the early hours of March 6 this year at the home they shared in Wharmby Avenue, Mansfield, following a 14-day trial at Nottingham Crown Court last week.

The 26-year-old had taken the equivalent of ‘three large lines’ of cocaine either before or shortly after committing the crime, and finally rushed the infant to her parents’ home on the same street where paramedics were called.

Earlier in the trial, the court was played telephone recordings of desperate bids to revive the toddler by performing CPR as ambulance staff rushed to the scene.

Gracie was taken to King’s Mill Hospital where medics battled to save her life, but she was pronounced dead at around 7.10am on March 6.

Medical examinations later revealed that she had burns to 65 per cent of her little body and it could have taken her up to two hours to die.

In interview, Crowder had claimed that she had found the infant unconscious on the bathroom floor next to an overturned mop bucket and immediately raised the alarm, but ultimately she was not believed.

Questioning Crowder earlier in the trial, prosecution barrister Sally Howes QC told her: “You may have taken cocaine before you killed Gracie, or you may have taken it as you watched her die. A major injury in a child covering a large part of the body would eventually lead to a condition known as burn shock and it's obvious, not just from the burns but from the way the child is, that the child is desperately burnt.

"Decline is rapid and death follows quite quickly. My suggestion to you is that you held Gracie so she could not move and you poured scalding water over her. She could not move, she could not get away. Were you holding her by her hair at the back of her head?

"Then she started to decline. Due to the loss of fluid her body stopped working. Was that when you panicked? You knew Gracie was dead when you ran round to your parents. You watched her die.”

The court also heard that Crowder had been hiding her drug use from per parents, and support workers from Sure Start and Mansfield drug charity Change Grow Live.

Speaking after the guilty verdict, Detective Chief Inspector Rob Routledge, Senior Investigating Officer on the case, said: “I welcome today’s verdict which serves as justice for Gracie. What her mother Crowder put her through was absolutely appalling and I am glad she will now be jailed for this horrendous crime.

Crowder is due to be sentenced today, Wednesday, December 16.

We will be reporting live from proceedings.

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