Father jailed for three years after baby suffers broken bones
A six-week-old baby had multiple broken bones, a judge said when sentencing the parents who admitted child cruelty.
The incident happened when they were living in Powys and the baby has since been adopted and is doing well, the court heard.
A 22-year-old man who has been serving a sentence for house burglaries and is of no fixed address, was jailed for three years and the mother, aged 23, from Sussex, was given a 10-month suspended prison sentence “because of exceptional circumstances of mitigation."
Judge Niclas Parry, passing sentence at Caernarfon crown court, said it happened because the father, 18, at the time had treated the baby roughly, possibly in temper.
The judge heard the mother would watch what was going on.
“You knew you should have done more to stop that, you ignored warnings from your mother that the baby was in danger,” the judge told her.
He added: “It's heartbreaking to think, even imagine, the pain and misery that was caused to that six week old.”
The father had been incapable of the responsibility of parenthood because of his level of maturity, the court heard.
The judge added: “It is accepted there was no intention to cause these injuries, no suggestion in this case of sadism or worse.”
Because of reporting restrictions the couple cannot be identified.
