AN IRISH NANNY is expected to enter a plea of ‘not guilty’ when she appears in court in the United States today to face a murder charge.

Aisling Brady McCarthy will be expected to enter a plea of not guilty later today as she is arraigned on charges of murder of the first degree at a court in Woburn, Massachusetts.

She had previously been charged with assault and battery, over the death of a child who had allegedly been in her care. It was confirmed last week, however, that prosecutors would now seek a murder charge against her.

The 34-year-old, originally from Cavan, denies all charges. Her lawyers say she has been wrongfully accused.

The charges relate to the discovery of an unresponsive child on the afternoon of January 14. The child, one-year-old Rehma Sabir, was found breathing, but unconscious, in a property on Ash Street in central Boston.

The girl was transported to the Children’s Hospital in Boston where she was found to be suffering from subdural and retinal haemorrhaging, and cerebral swelling. She was pronounced brain dead on 16 January and subsequently died.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy and ruled that the cause of death was blunt force head injuries, and the manner of death was “homicide and not accidental.”

However, a statement from the Office of the Massachusetts Attorney General last week alleged that the child was in the sole custody of Brady McCarthy when the injuries were incurred.

Additional reporting by Sinead O’Carroll. Comments have been disabled because of ongoing legal proceedings.

Read: Irish nanny due in Boston court today over baby death