16-year-old jailed for shaking his baby to death

LONDON - A 16-year-old Briton has been sentenced to a prison term for shaking his seven-week-old daughter to death, a media report said Thursday.

Joshua Bacon has been sentenced to two-and-a-half years in jail. He lost his cool when he attempted to feed his daughter, Caitlyn Smith, and shook her so violently that he caused a brain injury, Daily Mail reported.

Bacon had taken Caitlyn to the hospital with her mother Danielle Smith, 16, in January last year.

After Caitlyn was admitted with a minor urinary infection, Smith stayed with her on the first night before leaving Bacon to care for their daughter alone for another two days.

On the morning Caitlyn was due to be discharged, she was found dead after Bacon told a nurse that she had vomited and gone limp.

“I tried to feed her, but she didn’t take it, so the nurse told me to try again soon. The second time, she didn’t take it again, so I winded her and she was sick on me. I tried feeding her again, but half way through she started coughing and being sick again.

“So I put her down beside me and started watching TV, but the next time I looked at her she was pale and floppy. I don’t regret anything because I didn’t do anything wrong,” Bacon told the Preston Crown Court.

The injuries were described as the kind caused by a car crash or long fall on to a hard surface.

Danielle, now 17, said: “I think the sentence is absolutely disgusting. What excuse can you give for killing a baby? I’ll never be able to forgive him. I feel let down that you can kill a baby and all you’ll get is two-and-a-half years.”

“I don’t trust anyone any more, every time I hear a baby cry I look up thinking it’s Caitlyn. A momentary loss of control is not an excuse for killing a baby. I’ve got to live the rest of my life without holding my daughter,” she was quoted as saying.