Man jailed for shaking baby to death
April 19, 2007

A man who shook a seven-month-old baby to death has been jailed for at least nearly four years by a Sydney court.

The 21-year-old, who cannot be named, pleaded guilty to manslaughter after he shook the crying baby boy for about 30 seconds at a home in Taree, on the NSW mid-north coast, in July 2005.

The child suffered massive brain swelling, fractures to a number of ribs and a broken thigh. He died the next day in hospital. The man, who had been in a relationship with the boy's mother, was on parole at the time after serving jail time for a dishonesty offence.

The baby's crying had woken the couple at about 4.30am (AEST) on July 5, 2005. The boy may have been teething at the time and was difficult to settle, Justice Roderick Howie told the NSW Supreme Court today. Irritated by his girlfriend's unsuccessful attempts to calm the baby, the man offered to nurse him.

The boy's mother then fell asleep but awoke to see her partner kneeling on the floor, holding the baby by his armpits. " (The woman) saw the child's head was moving rapidly back and forth," Justice Howie said. " She called out to the offender to stop, saying that he was going to kill the child.

" The offender said that he knew what he was doing and continued to shake the child for about 30 seconds. " He then dropped him onto the mattress."

The boy was rushed to hospital but died of his injuries the next day.

Jailing the man for a maximum six years and nine months, Justice Roderick Howie today said the crime was aggravated by his role as a carer of the child. " The offence is aggravated by the fact that the offender was in a position of trust to the child, acting very much as his father and treated as such by (the boy's mother)," he said.

"The child was very young and particularly vulnerable." But Justice Howie said the man did not foresee the child's death and his actions illustrate his inexperience with babies.

" It was an isolated incident of anger against the child over a very short period of time and as a result of his frustration with the child's frequent crying," he said.

Justice Howie sentenced the man to a non-parole period of three years and nine months, with a maximum term of six years and nine months. With time already served, he will be eligible for release in July, 2010.

Source: © 2007 The Age Company Ltd