Dad killed newborn daughter first time they were left alone; convicted of manslaughter (London, England, United Kingdom)

The first time dad CHRISTOPHER SELLMAN was left alone with his 25-day-old daughter, he managed to kill her within an hour. Seems poor daddy became annoyed when his computer game was interrupted by the baby's crying. So he "slammed her down" during a diaper change--and with enough force to make her go "blue" and "floppy." The baby died from heart failure and bleeding on the brain. However, none of this should have been a surprise, given that Daddy has a PREVIOUS CONVICTION FOR ASSAULT.

You know what? Daddies with histories of violence--especially those who have convictions for domestic violence, assault, or rape--should not be allowed around children. Period.

As for this @$$hat, he managed to clear himself of murder charges, but has been convicted of manslaughter. His sentence? Just 5 years.

And what's this rubbish about Daddy being a "devoted father? What freaking evidence is there for that? None. Pure wishful thinking.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/may/06/man-killed-baby-daughter-tiffany

Father killed newborn daughter first time they were left alone
Christopher Sellman, a 'devoted father' but known risk to children, given five years for manslaughter of 25-day-old Tiffany
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 6 May 2010 12.36 BST

A man who killed his newborn daughter the first time he was left alone with her has been jailed for five years.

Tiffany Sellman Burdge was 25 days old when she died after suffering heart failure and bleeding to the brain while alone with her father, Christopher Sellman.

Passing sentence at Inner London crown court, Mr Justice Bean told Sellman he treated his daughter "roughly" and unlawfully killed her. "This is a tragic case," Bean said.

"Your daughter, Tiffany, was left in your care for the first time when she was only one month old. Within an hour she was effectively dead.

"It seems you were playing a computer game and were annoyed when she cried. You picked her up and slammed her down on to a padded changing mat with a view to changing her nappy."

But the judge said the baby girl turned blue and despite "desperate and frantic" efforts by the defendant and emergency services she died.

"You intended her no harm but you treated her roughly and unlawfully killed her."

He said Sellman made up a story about having slipped and dropped her, which the jury did not believe.

The judge said Tiffany was more than usually vulnerable because of a skull fracture sustained at birth, but "any one-month-old baby is tiny, fragile and vulnerable".

The judge said he found Sellman was a devoted father who was thrilled to have a daughter and showed her no animosity before the fatal incident. It was a "single incident without premeditation", he said.

Tiffany's death in November 2008 could have been prevented if information had been shared about the risk Sellman posed to children, a serious case review by Kent safeguarding children board found.

Sellman, 24, had a conviction for assault and hazard warning flags were placed against his name by authorities after he was cautioned for child neglect before he was found guilty of killing Tiffany.

Two other children under his care had been taken away from him and a former partner by children's social services following concerns about them.

But the court was told that the caution, when Sellman was 17, was for the "untidy and unsanitary conditions in which they lived and in which a child was being brought up".

Opportunities to protect Tiffany were missed by children's social services and health agencies, according to the report, published in March.

Relatives twice tried to alert agencies that Sellman's partner, Pamela Burdge, was pregnant with Tiffany but the information was not passed on or registered. Had Sellman been identified as the father and the extent of Burdge's childhood problems been known "in all probability care proceedings and action to protect Tiffany as soon as she was born" would have been implemented and her death might have been averted, the report said.

Burdge declined to comment outside court.

Her baby daughter died at King's College hospital in London on 1 November 2008 after Sellman had called an ambulance. He told the operator that Tiffany was losing colour and had gone "all floppy".

She was taken to the Kent and Sussex hospital in Tunbridge Wells before being transferred to London where a CT scan showed the extent of her injuries.

Sellman, previously of Tunbridge Wells, Kent, was arrested on suspicion of her murder the next day.

Maidstone crown court was told that throughout the police investigation officers found Sellman could not give an accurate account of what had happened to the baby girl prior to his 999 call.

He told a number of people at least five different versions of events, the court heard.

During the six-week trial he denied both the murder and the manslaughter of his daughter, claiming that he had accidentally dropped her.

He was cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter.