Rhyl,North Wales - Man jailed for shaking baby so violently that he almost died

Kieran Brown was jailed at Caernarfon Crown Court

• 20 APR 2016
• BY HYWEL TREWYN

Kieran Brown, of Coast Road, caused a significant head injury when he shook the child

A man who shook a baby so violently that he almost died has been jailed for 20 months.

Kieran Brown, 23, of Coast Road, Rhyl, had admitted causing grievous bodily harm to the infant at a different address.

Prosecutor Elen Owen said the baby had been sleeping when Brown took him from his pram to feed him at 6.45am.

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The child’s mum was alerted by the baby crying and the sound of Brown “slapping him on the back”.

Ms Owen said: “He was holding the baby on his knee and was screaming: ‘He’s not breathing!’”

An ambulance was called, paramedics arrived shortly after 7am and the baby was taken to Ysbyty Glan Clwyd within 18 minutes.

The child was then transferred to the paediatric unit at Alder Hey in Liverpool, where doctors confirmed there was a “bilateral subdural haemorrage to the head and retina”.

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Ms Owen said the baby had suffered an accidental but significant head injury by “severe shaking” before collapsing.

She said: “He said he’d been shaking the baby to wake him up and put him out of the window. He said the baby was ‘floppy’.”

The court heard Brown had said he used “quite a bit of force” and shook the baby for “about a minute”, but Ms Owen said the baby made a full recovery.

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Simon Killeen, defending, said Brown accepted sole responsibilty.

“This was a single, reckless act and the defendant did not intend to cause injury,” he said.

“This was not a sustained assault.”

Sentencing Brown, Judge Geraint Walters said: “You were observed shaking the baby to see if there were any signs of life.”

He said specialist care by the ambulance service and doctors had saved the baby’s life.

The judge said the baby’s life-threatening injuries were caused by “violent shaking”.

“These injuries are not caused by mild shaking,” he said.

“They are caused by significant force. It is a matter of good fortune that the little baby now has made a good recovery and resides in a place of safety.

“This was a serious injury. It could have led to death.”

see-http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/rhyl-man-jailed-shaking-baby-11216474