Dad convicted of shaking baby to death; gets just 2 1/2 years in prison (Lancashire, England, United Kingdom)

We've posted on dad JOSHUA BACON before. This is the father who killed his infant daughter while she was in the hospital being treated for a urinary infection. Looks like Daddy abused the baby before then too. Beyond sickening.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1265972/Teenage-mothers-devastation-boyfriend-shook-baby-death-jailed-just-half-years.html?ITO=1490

Father, 16, who shook his baby to death jailed for two-and-a-half years
By Jaya Narain
Last updated at 9:58 AM on 15th April 2010

Joshua Bacon has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years after shaking his baby daughter to death.

A teenager who shook his seven-week-old daughter to death was jailed yesterday.

Joshua Bacon lost his temper as he tried to feed Caitlyn Smith and handled her so violently that he caused a catastrophic brain injury.

He was yesterday found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to two-and-a-half years behind bars.

The 16-year-old father had taken Caitlyn to hospital with her mother Danielle Smith, 16, in January last year.

After the girl was admitted with a minor urinary infection, Miss Smith stayed with her on the first night before leaving Bacon to care for their daughter alone for another two days.

But on the morning Caitlyn was due to be discharged, she was found dead in her cot after Bacon told a nurse that she had vomited and gone limp.

Bacon, a painter and decorator from St Helens in Merseyside, insisted that he had done nothing wrong and felt no remorse.

Recalling the tragedy on January 12, he told Preston Crown Court: 'I tried to feed her, but she didn't take it, so the nurse told me to try again soon. The second time, she didn't take it again, so I winded her and she was sick on me.

'I tried feeding her again, but half way through she started coughing and being sick again.
'So I put her down beside me and started watching TV, but the next time I looked at her she was pale and floppy. I don't regret anything because I didn't do anything wrong.'

Seven-week-old Caitlyn was shaken to death

Medical staff at Ormskirk Hospital in Lancashire found Caitlyn lying on her back on Bacon's bed with no signs of life.

'Her head continued to swell, a result of damage to her brain. Despite everything possible being done, her condition continued to deteriorate, with no hope of recovery,' Alan Conrad QC, prosecuting, told the court.

Danielle Smith, left, is comforted by relatives after the sentencing of her ex-boyfriend
Caitlyn was transferred to Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool and died four days later. X-rays also revealed Caitlyn had two broken legs and 13 rib fractures that had been sustained two weeks before she died.

The injuries were described as the kind caused by a car crash or long fall on to a hard surface.
Last night, Miss Smith, now 17, attacked the sentence handed down to her former partner.

She said: 'I think the sentence is absolutely disgusting. What excuse can you give for killing a baby?

'I'll never be able to forgive him. I feel let down that you can kill a baby and all you'll get is two-and-a-half years.

'I don't trust anyone any more, every time I hear a baby cry I look up thinking it's Caitlyn. A momentary loss of control is not an excuse for killing a baby.

'I've got to live the rest of my life without holding my daughter.'

Judge Caroline Swift had earlier told the jury to acquit Bacon of murder after deciding it would be impossible to be sure he intentionally killed the baby.

Sentencing Bacon, she said: 'You became irritated and lost control to the extent that you shook her and mishandled her so that her head struck the mattress of the bed.

'You did so at a time when you were surrounded by people who could have given you support.
'I accept that your violence lasted only a matter of seconds, a few seconds was all that it would take to cause a devastating brain injury.

'You were an immature 16-year-old at a borderline learning disability level. Those factors must have made it difficult for you to adjust to the responsibility of fatherhood and putting the needs of your child before your own.'

Baby Caitlyn had been admitted to Ormskirk and District General Hospital in Skelmersdale, Lancs, with a routine infection.

Bacon, now 17, was sent to a young offenders' institution but could be free in six months due to time he has spent on remand.

Ormskirk Hospital has defended the care it gave Caitlyn, saying there was no reason to believe the girl, who had been born five weeks prematurely, was at risk from Bacon or anyone else.
Jonathan Parry, chief executive of Southport and Ormskirk Hospitals NHS Trust said: 'A thorough investigation of the circumstances surrounding this incident was conducted last year which found that the care provided by the Trust was as good as it should be.'

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Murphy, of Lancashire Police, who led the investigation, said the sentence reflected the fact that there were 'no winners' in the case.

He added: 'Joshua has never accepted responsibility and has never explained his actions. Only he knows what really happened.'

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