"Caretaking" dad "left baby daughter brain-damaged after hitting her head with the force of a cricket bat" (Leicester, England, United Kingdom)

Dad ZAK WHITLOCK was "looking after" his 7-week-old daughter, even though he had been BANNED from caring for her (seems this scumbag had already abused her when she was only 2-weeks old, by breaking her ribs). Whitlock managed to hit this baby with such force, that she was left with a crack running the entire length of her skull. Now 15-months old, the baby has a "misshapen skull" and no idea of her surroundings. Mom will be sentenced for letting dad babysit. Frankly, I don't think there are that many dads who are suited to infant care, anyway. But none of us want to appear "sexist" and say so, even though the evidence shows that "caretaking" fathers and boyfriends represent the highest risk of abuse for infants and toddlers.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1269461/Father-left-baby-daughter-brain-damaged-hitting-head-force-cricket-bat.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

Father 'left baby daughter brain-damaged after hitting her head with the force of a cricket bat'
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 1:15 PM on 28th April 2010

A father smashed his seven-week-old daughter's skull so hard it was like 'hitting her with a cricket bat', a court heard.

The little girl suffered severe brain damage and was left a crack running the entire length of her head.

Her father Zak Whitlock, 21, is also accused of breaking one of her ribs by squeezing her chest to 'half its size' when she was two weeks old.

A jury at Leicester Crown Court heard how Whitlock smashed the little girl around the head on February 21 last year - his 20th birthday.

He had been looking after her at their home in Wigston, Leicester, despite being banned from being alone with her after an earlier attack when she was just two weeks old.

Dr Timothy Jaspan, a consultant paediatric neuro-radiologist, said the child's chances of making a full recovery were 'dire'.

He said: 'It's extremely poor, her brain damage was untreatable. The fracture was of such magnitude the tough dural membrane protecting the brain was torn.

'This doesn't happen with a normal skull fracture. We don't see trauma like this very often. It would require very unusual major force.

'It would have needed hard impact at high velocity. The head would have been struck against something, smashed against a wall, or a table or struck very hard with something like a cricket bat.'

The little girl, now 15 months, has still got a 'grossly misshapen head' and has no idea of her surroundings, he added.

The court also heard evidence from Dr Stephen Chapman, a consultant paediatric radiologist.
He said 'very considerable force' would have been needed to fracture the back of the baby's seventh rib.

He said: 'You'd have to squeeze the chest to about half its size.'

Whitlock told police he accidentally dropped the child as he lay her on a bed, claiming she banged her head on the bed's protruding wooden frame.

The child's mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has admitted cruelty by leaving the child with Whitlock, and is awaiting sentence.

Whitlock denies inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent and actual bodily harm. The trial continues.