Nursery worker who kicked, pinched and scratched babies because 'she couldn't vape' jailed for eight years

Roksana Lecka, from Hounslow, west London, admitted seven counts of cruelty to a person under the age of 16 and was convicted of another 14 counts by a jury at Kingston Crown Court in June.

Her crimes were discovered in June last year after she was sent home for pinching a number of children at Riverside Nursery in Twickenham, south-west London.

In one incident, she kicked a little boy in the face several times.

CCTV footage revealed Lecka pinching and scratching children under their clothes on their arms, legs and stomachs.

She was also seen to push babies head first over cots and cover a toddler’s mouth when he started to cry.

Parents whose babies were abused have condemned her “sickening” crimes and branded her the “worst kind of human”.

In her evidence, she said: "At that time I was really addicted to vapes, I would smoke two little crystal disposables a day.

"I was vaping in nursery. Because if I did not smoke I would get agitated and fed up. I couldn't keep asking to go to the toilet. Any opportunity I would take.

"I would be really moody and fed up. It would be a couple of puffs and then I'd put it away… I would put it in my bra."

Lecka also told the court how she was "so tired" at the time and was not getting any sleep.

On Friday, Kingston Crown Court heard victim impact statements from the parents of the 21 babies during Lecka’s sentencing hearing.

One mother, who took to the witness box to read her own statement, looked directly at Lecka as she said: “These children were so innocent and vulnerable.

“They couldn’t speak, they couldn’t defend themselves and they couldn’t tell us as parents that something had happened to them.

“They were totally helpless and Roksana preyed upon them.”

Another mother, referencing the CCTV footage, said: “This really highlighted how defenceless all the children were and how sickening Roksana’s crimes were to target such young babies.”

Prosecutor Tracy Ayling told jurors: "It is clear her actions are deliberate or at the very last careless, but on most occasions we say deliberate.

"There are, of course, some clips where Ms Lecka - as we put it - keeps going back for more."

She was arrested on July 5 last year and said in a prepared statement: "I deny assaulting any children at the Riverside Nursery.

"I went into work that day and had a normal day. There were no accidents where any child seemed hurt.

"We have procedures for the handling of the children, which I adhered to. I am unaware how any injury to these children were caused."

The court heard from a different mother that some of the CCTV showed babies “reach back out to Roksana after she hurt them”.

She said: “I think Roksana is a huge threat to society.

“It is objectively shocking that she has been hiding in plain sight in society up until she was arrested. I think all of us can agree that only the worst kind of human would assault vulnerable babies.”

Many expressed their fears over what further abuse their children may have endured.

One father told the court that his wife “always says” if Lecka had not been caught “she could have gone on to seriously injure or even kill”.

The defendant requested a break part way through the statements and was seen with her head in her hands before leaving the dock.

She worked at Riverside Nursery between January and June 2024, with a number of parents reporting unusual injuries and bruising in March and May that year.

Police said she had abused children at two nurseries between October 2023 and June 2024.

One of the counts related to Little Munchkins in Hounslow, with the remainder linked to Riverside, which has since closed.

She was also found not guilty of three counts of child cruelty.

The sentencing hearing continues.