U.K. parents jailed over death of 8-week-old daughter, who had 65 broken bones
The parents of an 8-week-old baby who was found dead nearly three years ago in London have been jailed, U.K. police said Friday.
Naomi Johnson, 24, was sentenced to seven years and two months, while Benjamin O’Shea, 26, was sentenced to eight years and eight months behind bars.
They had previously been found guilty of causing or allowing a child to suffer serious physical harm in relation to their baby girl Amina-Faye Johnson, who died in April 2019, and was later found to have 65 broken bones.
They were also found guilty of cruelty to a person under the age of 16 in relation to another child, who remained anonymous.
The two were sentenced Friday at Inner London Crown Court.
“No jail term will ever be worth the life of baby Amina-Faye,” Detective Inspector Melanie Pressley, who led the investigation, said in a statement.
“However, I hope that today’s sentence is a clear message that the children in this case mattered and those who think they can get away with inflicting such abuse will be punished. I know I speak for everyone involved in this investigation when I say it has been truly heart-breaking to investigate and Amina Faye and the other child in this case will stay with us all,” she added.
The baby died on April 26, 2019.
According to police, her parents called U.K.’s national emergency number, 999, but paramedics weren’t able to save her.
At the time, the baby showed “no observable injuries,” and medics originally thought that she had died from a condition known as Sudden Unexpected Infant Death. However, X-rays later showed injuries the child had suffered in her short life.
She was found to have more than 60 fractured bones in her body, including 41 identified fractures to her ribs, as well as 24 limb bone fractures.
Experts say that the fractures indicate that the baby “suffered continued physical abuse,” according to police.
“Some of the fractures were relatively recent while others had begun to heal suggesting that over the course of her eight-week life Amina-Faye had been subject to multiple episodes of abuse,” officials added.
In interviews with the police, the couple denied injuring their daughter.
Detectives said that they also found text messages between the couple in which they both admitted to mistreating the other child.
“Johnson and O’Shea have rightly been jailed for the monstrous abuse they subjected these children to,” Pressley said.
“Throughout our investigation, Johnson and O’Shea have been steadfast in their refusal to answer our questions. Thanks to the expertise of doctors who assisted us in this case, we know the trauma Amina-Faye suffered in her all too short life. Johnson and O’Shea betrayed everything that children deserve from adults,” the detective added.
“There is no doubt that this is a case of the highest seriousness in terms of cruelty to children in terms of the injuries,” judge Nigel Peters said Friday during sentencing, according to the BBC.
He described the case as “harrowing.”
