Father inflicted ‘life-changing’ injuries on 3-week-old daughter, but won’t face jail time: ‘Never live the life of a happy, healthy young child’

Per a new report, a father who left his three-week-old daughter permanently disabled has avoided prison.

The man, 33, was handed a two-year, 10-month term at the Crown Court in Belfast on August 11, but the sentence was suspended for four years, sparing him time behind bars. His identity hasn’t been revealed, since it would also expose his daughter, who is now eight. (via The Irish News)

Judge Mark Reel sentenced him for causing grievous bodily harm. The father admitted he was the only person caring for the 22-day-old when the accident occurred, but he’s never explained how the injuries, that have been described as “life-changing,” really happened.

The events unfolded one afternoon in December 2017. The baby’s mother left for a hair appointment after feeding and changing her. She was asleep and due another bottle around 2 p.m., but while she was out, her partner texted to say the baby hadn’t stirred for the feed, and she replied that changing the nappy usually woke her. He then sent another message, this time saying that the infant’s breathing seemed off, prompting the mother to cut her appointment short and rush home, per the BBC.

She found the baby in her father’s arms, eyes flickering and mouth moving. The mother’s sister, who has medical training, recognized that the child was having a seizure, and an ambulance was called. A paramedic noted that neither parent appeared to understand what was wrong.

A CT scan then showed bleeding on the brain, and a team of specialists concluded the child had suffered an acute traumatic head injury. They found it was most likely caused when the baby’s head, unsupported by weak neck muscles, was moved rapidly back and forth.

Here’s what the father said in his defense

The father told the police his daughter woke around 1:30 p.m. and had three bowel movements before he prepared a bottle. She wouldn’t respond and he could not get her to open her eyes. He said he put her in a swing and tried to burp her against his shoulder, and that just before his partner returned, the baby’s lips were clicking and her eyebrows were moving.

Asked whether he’d shaken her, he said no, and repeated that denial in two more interviews, also rejecting any suggestion he had grown frustrated at changing her nappy three times. (This pattern of injury is what medicine now calls abusive head trauma, and usually happens when a caregiver becomes frustrated with a crying infant, according to CDC.)

Prosecutor Rosemary Walsh KC explained to the court that the case was supported by medical evidence, and that pointed to the conclusion of the injuries being “consistent with an episode of shaking.”

The child is now nonverbal and suffers from serious mobility problems. “She will never live the life of a happy, healthy young child,” Walsh said. In a signed document read to court, the father accepted that something must have happened and that he must therefore have caused the harm.

The judge noted with concern that the father never explained what really happened, but he was in no doubt the man lived with daily regret. He suspended the term because of the delay in the case, and the defendant’s previous good character. He also discussed the impact imprisonment would have on his daughter.

According to the mother, the man continues to have weekly contact and overnight stays. He also meets his responsibilities to her both emotionally and financially.