A British couple named Benjamin O’Shea,26 and Naomi Johnson, 23, their eight-week-old baby girl who died with more than sixty broken bones, have been jailed for a total of 15 years.
The Paramedics and police described to the court that Amina Faye Johnson died of physical abuse caused by the force of cruelty, not by accident; they describe it as heart-breaking and shocking.
Judge Nigel Peters QC of Inner London Crown Court said that this case is of the highest seriousness of how parents are abusing or being cruel to their child. There is no doubt that the act is monstrous.
O’Shea, 26, of Southwark south-east London, was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years for causing or allowing Amina-Faye to suffer serious physical harm.
While Johnson, 24, of Battersea, south-west London, was jailed for seven years for this offence.
An expert in Osteoarticular Pathology said the fractures could not have been caused accidentally and said Amina had suffered limb and rib fractures on at least nine occasions.
Her injuries also suggested the baby had previously suffered bleeding in her head.
Radiologists found the multiple fractures were highly indicative that Amina had suffered continued physical abuse because some were relatively recent and others had started to heal.
Melanie Pressley, investigating Officer of the offence, said the act is genuinely heart-breaking that has disturbed the inner peace of all who have worked on bringing the couple before the court to provide justice to Amina.
No jail term will ever be worth the life of baby Amina-Faye, she added.
DC Caroline Baker, part of the investigation team, added: ‘It is difficult to speak of justice in a case like this.
However, I hope that today’s verdict is a clear message that these children mattered and the abuse they suffered will be punished.’
