Dad jailed for punching 12-week-old daughter and fracturing her skull; says he was aiming at Mom (Stockton, England)

Dad PETER SUMMERFIELD is just scum as far as I'm concerned. But notice how he's praised here as a "very caring" father. If fracturing the skull of your infant daughter while aiming for her mother is "caring," I'll take indifference for $100.

http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teesside-news/2012/01/07/jail-for-stockton-dad-who-punched-baby-girl-84229-30077292/

Jail for Stockton dad who punched baby girl
by Gareth Lightfoot, Evening Gazette

Jan 7 2012in

A 12-WEEK-OLD baby girl suffered a fractured skull and brain bleed when her father hit her head while swinging a punch at her mother.

Peter Summerfield was jailed for 20 months as his pregnant girlfriend watched from the public gallery at Teesside Crown Court.

The drunken dad turned violent during a row, clawed at his girlfriend’s face and dragged her to the floor, the court heard yesterday.

Then he waved a knife and stabbed a door with it as his partner held the baby in her arms, said prosecutor Jacqui Edwards.

The mum screamed down a phone for help: “He’s attacked me once. He’s got a knife. Please come.”

Summerfield, 29, pushed and grabbed her and punched her in the mouth. He swung a second punch but she turned away.

The blow instead hit the baby “full force” to the head, the court was told.

As the baby let out “terrible” screams, the mother begged Summerfield to ring for an ambulance. He refused.

He pushed the mum and ran from the house with the baby. He was later found near the home of the mum’s parents.

A CT scan revealed the baby had suffered a skull fracture and a bleed on the brain. She made a full recovery.

Summerfield initially claimed he acted in self defence against his partner and denied injuring his daughter, but later accepted what he’d done.

He told police he’d drunk eight pints or more in a birthday celebration that day and didn’t remember striking the baby.

He said he was disgusted with himself and was sorry for the assault on March 27 last year.

He pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm on the baby and two counts of common assault on the mum.

Peter Makepeace, defending, said Summerfield – otherwise a very caring, active and loving father, “an absolute model parent” – felt devastation and remorse.