“They could not communicate, they could not defend themselves, they usually could not inform us as dad and mom that one thing had occurred to them. They have been completely helpless, and Roksana preyed upon them.”
A tornado nursery employee who abused kids in her care has been caged for eight years over her crimes. Roksana Lecka’s sentence closes a harrowing chapter for households who fell sufferer to the evil 22-year-old. Final 12 months she started working at Riverside Nursery, a high-end Montessori nursery within the leafy south-west London suburb of Twickenham Inexperienced, which has since closed.
It was right here that she took benefit of her place in probably the most grotesque of the way, violently assaulting the little ones in her care. A number of the victims have been as younger as ten months previous, too younger to report their mistreatment. Lecka labored on the virtually £2,000 per 30 days nursery for simply 5 months.
However in that point, she managed to assault 21 kids, taking sly steps to hide her behaviour from her colleagues. When issues have been lastly raised, the damning CCTV footage of Lecka kicking, punching and scratching victims proved so horrific that it elicited gasps in Kingston Crown Court docket, the place her subsequent trial was held.
Police mentioned Lecka had abused kids at two nurseries between October 2023 and June 2024. Certainly one of these counts associated to Little Munchkins in Hounslow, whereas the remaining have been linked to Riverside. Lecka, from Hounslow, confessed to seven counts of kid cruelty, whereas making “excuses” for her vile behaviour.
The Mirror reviews it took jurors 9 hours and 53 minutes to convict her of 14 of the remaining 17 little one cruelty counts, acquitting her of three. Right here, we check out Lecka’s reign of terror, together with her reportedly remorseless antics behind bars. Lecka, who moved to the UK from Poland on the age of three, appeared to dwell a double life.
Social media exhibits her beaming for comfortable household photographs, whereas serving to her mom increase her child siblings, potty coaching and bottle feeding them. One TikTok video exhibits Lecka’s “proud” mom praising her “fantastic” daughter, the Mail on Sunday reviews. Even after Lecka’s crimes got here to gentle, her mom continued to defend her.
Second Roksana Lecka is arrested and interviewed by police
She informed the publication, “It is not that unhealthy. She did not kill anybody.” Former barmaid Lecka would later inform the court docket that it was her expertise caring for her siblings, now aged 5 and 15, that made her need to work in a nursery, sharing: “We’ve got an inseparable bond. I see them as I’d my very own kids.”
In January 2024, Lecka, who possesses no {qualifications}, efficiently utilized for a everlasting job at Riverside Nursery, offering three references. However behind the guise of a useful daughter was a really totally different persona, and one which she sought to cover from these round her.
At Lecka’s trial, Kingston Crown Court docket was proven stunning footage of Lecka kicking slightly boy 4 instances within the face earlier than stepping on his shoulder and kicking him within the face as soon as once more. This video drew audible gasps from the general public gallery, the place a number of relations of the younger victims have been seated.
In one other video, Lecka could possibly be seen pinching the legs, again and underarm of a crying lady. A 3rd clip confirmed her grabbing a child out of their crib, earlier than pinching and punching them. Prosecutors famous that Lecka could possibly be seen “trying round” at different employees members, keeping track of who was “watching these assaults happen.”
At Lecka’s sentencing listening to right this moment, Kingston Crown Court docket heard sufferer affect statements from the dad and mom of the 21 kids. One mom seemed straight at Lecka from the witness field as she learn her assertion, telling the court docket: “These kids have been so harmless and susceptible.
“They could not communicate, they could not defend themselves, they usually could not inform us as dad and mom that one thing had occurred to them. They have been completely helpless, and Roksana preyed upon them.” One other mom, refererring to the incriminating CCTV footage, mentioned: “This actually highlighted how defenceless all the youngsters have been and the way sickening Roksana’s crimes have been to focus on such younger infants.”
The court docket additionally heard from a unique third mom about how among the CCTV confirmed infants “attain again out to Roksana after she harm them”. She said: “I feel Roksana is a large menace to society. It’s objectively stunning that she has been hiding in plain sight in society up till she was arrested. I feel all of us can agree that solely the worst sort of human would assault susceptible infants.”
Many dad and mom expressed fears over what additional abuse their little ones could have endured, with one father telling the court docket that his spouse “all the time says” that, had Lecka not been caught, “she might have gone on to significantly injure and even kill”. Det Insp Sian Hutchings of the Met Police’s Public Safety Command spoke after her sentencing.
He mentioned right this moment: “At the moment’s sentencing concludes a fancy and emotional investigation. The victims on this case are simply infants, with the youngest being simply 10 months on the time of the offences. One thing which our officers have discovered stunning all through this investigation is Roksana’s lack of accountability and her incapacity to clarify her unjustifiable actions.
“On account of the onerous work from our devoted investigation group and our companions, this lady will now not be capable to hurt kids.” Lecka was lastly caught after dad and mom and employees members started to note bruises and scratches, and she or he was suspended on June 28, 2024.
Met Police detectives trawled by means of nursery CCTV, and located footage of Lecka pinching and scratching kids beneath their garments on their arms, legs and stomachs. She pinched a number of kids dozens of instances over the course of simply in the future, inflicting them to cry and flinch away from her, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) mentioned.
On one harrowing event, she kicked slightly boy within the face a number of instances, and she or he was additionally seen pushing infants headfirst over cots and protecting a toddler’s mouth when he began to cry. Detective Sergeant Geoff Boye said: “Footage confirmed Lecka finishing up a number of assaults on the youngsters in her care.”
These assaults “included repeatedly pinching and grabbing kids, dropping infants into their cots and on one event, she delivered a number of kicks to a younger boy to the face and stepped on his shoulder.” The dad and mom of greater than half of the affected victims are actually suing Dukes Training, which runs greater than 50 impartial faculties, faculties and nurseries throughout the UK/
They’ve expressed astonishment that the abuse continued for so long as it did. One nameless guardian, whose little one is now in one other nursery, mentioned that her belief had been damaged by “evil” Lecka, warning others: “‘If you happen to see your little one upset, you instantly suppose somebody is hurting them. It has created a way of distrust.”
Footage of Lecka’s arrest additionally makes for chilling viewing, with the disgraced nursery employee seen smirking in the lounge of her residence, as officers suggested her of the intense accusations she confronted. Exhibiting no obvious regret, Lecka coldly replied: “Yeah I’ve heard about that”.
Further video proof exhibits Lecka seared in her police interview, answering “no remark” to each single query. Even when proven photos of the little kids’s accidents, she failed to indicate any emotion. Showing bored, Lecka could possibly be seen taking part in together with her hair as a feminine detective learn out particulars of the horrific accidents she inflicted on the youngsters.
The officer then requested, “I am sorry, am I boring you?” Lecka responded, “No, I am listening”, however appeared simply as disinterested when one other officer requested her about kicking the boy within the face. She additionally replied “no remark” when requested whether or not she had “any empathy for these kids you’ve got assaulted”.
After she was charged with 24 counts of kid cruelty, Lecka admitted to seven of those prices, however denied an additional 17, claiming her hashish behavior had impacted her reminiscence to the purpose the place she was unable to recollect her personal actions. In her ready assertion, Lecka mentioned: “I deny assaulting any kids on the Riverside Nursery.”
When requested earlier than the court docket if this was a lie, Lecka responded: “I used to be not mendacity as a result of I used to be unaware of what I used to be doing and the issues I used to be doing, I am unable to bear in mind the issues I used to be doing as a result of I used to be smoking hashish that was affecting my reminiscence.” She then asserted, “The quantity of hashish I used to be smoking was nonetheless affecting me; in that time period, it affected my reminiscence.”
Lecka mentioned she was additionally “addicted” to her vape, telling the court docket: “At the moment I used to be actually hooked on vapes, I’d smoke two little crystal disposables a day. I used to be vaping in nursery. As a result of if I didn’t smoke, I’d get agitated and fed up. I could not hold asking to go to the bathroom. Any alternative I’d take. I’d be actually moody and fed up.
“It could be a few puffs after which I might put it away I’d put it in my bra.” On the time she was suspended from the nursery, Lecka claimed she had been “over-prioritising” her boyfriend, whom she was “addicted” to. She alleged: “I used to be with my boyfriend each evening. I used to be hooked on him.”
Addressing jurors throughout Lecka’s trial, prosecutor Tracy Ayling argued that smoking hashish and never having the ability to vape have been “excuses”. She remarked, “It’s clear her actions are deliberate or on the very least careless, however on most events, we are saying deliberate. There are, in fact, some clips the place Ms Lecka – as we put it – retains going again for extra.”
Lecka has allegedly made a twisted friendship behind the infamous bars of HMP Bronzefield, turning into shut with babysitter killer Sabrina Kouider. Kouider, who had a child with a Boyzone member, was sentenced to life in jail again in 2018 alongside companion Ouissem Medouni, 40, after they tortured and killed their French nanny Sophie Lionnet, 21.
They then callously tossed her physique on a bonfire. Lecka and Kouider, dubbed the “glam lags” reportedly grew to become “inseparable”, and would cling round mocking different inmates, who declare neither of the ladies have proven “any regret” for his or her unthinkable crimes. One former prisoner, who served a sentence for assault, claimed: “Lecka would stroll round like she had not finished something.
“She seems to be down on folks. She is excellent mates with Sabrina Kouider, who killed her babysitter. They’re finest friends. Sabrina is a narcissistic, horrible individual. They are going to chill collectively, sit up, speak about folks, giggle at them, and make enjoyable of individuals. They’re going on like they personal the place.
“I’d see them on daily basis. I’d not speak to Roksana as I could not stand what she had finished. She was boastful and thinks so extremely of herself. She was very useless – all the time dressed up with eyelashes and make-up on. They have been extra targeted on their picture than exhibiting any regret for what they did.”
They continued: “I used to be appalled and shocked by it. I used to be disgusted – the way in which she walked about like she had not finished something. I overheard conversations the place she was boasting she was going to get off. After I bought out, I noticed on the information just a few days in the past the dimensions of what she had finished. It was disgusting.
“I ought to have identified, the actual fact she befriended Sabrina I ought to have identified she was responsible. Roksana appeared gleeful. She had no regret in any respect for what she did. She was boastful and simply thinks so extremely of herself. A spokesperson for HMP Bronzefield beforehand said: “We do not touch upon people.”
A consultant from Twickenham Inexperienced nursery expressed their misery over the scenario, stating: “Conditions like this are deeply upsetting and signify a profound breach of belief in knowledgeable. We recognise how troublesome this has been, particularly for the youngsters and households straight concerned.
“Creating locations through which kids are comfortable, protected and in a position to thrive is our high precedence, and we are going to do all the things in our energy to guard that.” The nursery additional said that they took rapid motion upon receiving complaints about Lecka’s behaviour, which in the end led to her arrest.
