Baby suffered brain bleed and broken ribs after being shaken by father

The 24-year-old Rotherham man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court last Monday after admitting one count of causing physical harm to a child in December, 2014.

His partner, a 20-year-old Rotherham woman, who also cannot be named, was given a community order after admitting one count of cruelty to a person under 16 years.

Both parents attempted to cover up what had happened to the boy by lying to professionals about the cause of the injury.

The boy, now aged three, had to visit hospital more than 30 times following the incident and undergo intensive physiotherapy after losing movement down the side of his body.

The full consequences of his injuries are not yet known and the boy, who is now in care, may develop a condition such as attention deficit syndrome, the court heard.

Sentencing the father, Judge Graham Reeds said: “You were easily frustrated and you struggled to control your emotions and struggled to discuss what was happening in your relationship.

“From what I have read, you were also overbearing towards your partner.”

He told the mother she had struggled to cope with being a parent.

He added it was “a matter of good fortune” the boy did not appear to have been left disabled.

Mr Robert Stevenson, prosecuting, said a nurse who visited the parents had concerns about the boy’s cleanliness and about him being left crying for long periods.

The prosecutor said that on December 14, 2014, the boy’s father deliberately shook him for “a number of seconds” and, when it became apparent he was unwell, he called for an ambulance.

Medical staff suspected a respiratory condition but the boy’s parents offered no explanation about what had happened, Mr Stevenson said.

The boy was initially discharged from hospital but was readmitted after suffering a seizure.

Scans showed he had suffered a bleed on the brain, damage to his spine and fractures to his ribs in three places. Medics concluded the injuries had been caused by non-accidental shaking.

A consultant paediatrician said pressure had been applied under his arms, added Mr Stevenson.

The parents were arrested but denied any wrongdoing. 

The father claimed the injuries might have been caused when he was winding his son and the mother claimed she had fallen over while holding him.

Mr Stevenson said the father now accepted that what he had done was excessive and unlawful.

Ms Rebecca Tanner, mitigating for the father, said what happened to his son was “something he would have to live with for the rest of his life”.

Mr Richard Davies, for the mother, said a psychological report concluded she had since become detached from her emotions and had tried to block out what happened to her son.

Judge Reeds sentenced the father to 18 months in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered him to complete up to 35 days of rehabilitation.

He gave the mother a 12-month community order and ordered her to complete up to 35 days of rehabilitation.

The judge refused an application by the Advertiser to name the parents.