Legal argument in trial of childminder accused of causing serious harm to baby

A retrial concerning a Cavan childminder accused of causing serious harm to an infant continued before Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on Friday with legal argument conducted in the jury's absence. Sandra Higgins, aged 37, of The Beeches, Drumgola Wood, Cavan, has pleaded not guilty to intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to a ten-month-old baby at her home on 28 March 2012. The State alleges that injuries sustained by the infant, comprising head and facial bruising and swelling, intracranial bleeding, and bilateral retinal detachment, were inflicted by the accused. Prosecutors contend these injuries posed substantial risk of death or serious impairment to the child's bodily functions. The jury, comprising five women and seven men, is scheduled to return to court the following Tuesday. The trial, expected to last three weeks, continues before Judge Pauline Codd.