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Jonathan Simpson – Winsford/Liverpool

10 Wednesday Mar 2021

Posted by Author in Cheshire, Child Killer, Merseyside

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March 2021

Boyfriend who smoked cigarette as toddler lay dying guilty of murder

A lying boyfriend who killed his partner’s toddler was today found guilty of murder.

Jacob Marshall suffered a horrific ordeal including a “catastrophic brain injury” at the hands of Jonathan Simpson

Injuries included bruises to Jacob’s head, stomach, groin, arms, shins and feet. Bruising to the child’s penis and two bruises to his left inner ear. 

A CT scan revealed a subdural haemorrhage – blood compressing his brain – and retinal haemorrhages involving extensive bleeds in both eyes.

Nothing could be done to save Jacob, who died from his head injury

The court was told that Simpson, 25, originally from Winsford but recently of Speke offered to mind 22-month-old Jacob while the child’s mum Emma Marshall went to the hairdressers.

A neighbour found the little boy unresponsive at his home in Speke – but Simpson hadn’t even called an ambulance yet.

He gave “several different explanations” for Jacob’s death – first claiming he fell off a couch, later saying “I dropped a baby down the stairs”, and finally suggesting the toddler fell down the stairs.

Simpson admitted that he lied initially because it would look like “bad parenting” to say he left Jacob unsupervised.

He denied ever hurting the child, but prosecutors said he lost his temper and banged Jacob’s head hard on a kitchen floor, inflicting injuries similar to those that would be caused in a “high velocity car crash”.

A jury unanimously found Simpson guilty of murder following three hours of and 49 minutes of deliberation and a 12-day trial at Liverpool Crown Court.

Simpson showed no emotion in the dock, while Jacob’s mum sobbed and members of her family wept in the public gallery.

The killer’s mum cried loudly while his new girlfriend was also in tears.

Judge Andrew Menary, QC, said Simpson will be sentenced tomorrow morning and remanded him in custody. The murderer waved to his mum as he left the dock.

The trial heard Miss Marshall, 23, left Jacob watching TV in his Mickey Mouse pyjamas, with a fresh nappy and bottle of juice, at around 3pm on Friday, July 12, 2019.

She described her youngest son as “clumsy” and said he ran everywhere and “always had a bruise”, but the court heard he was a “happy, smiley little boy”.

Jacob once previously tumbled down the stairs that April, when his mum took him to hospital and he only had “a little bump on his head” and a graze.

Miss Marshall said Simpson had always been “loving and affectionate” towards her, Jacob, and her oldest son, now six.

The mum said she “trusted him” and had “no concerns” when Simpson, of no fixed address but from Winsford, offered to mind Jacob.

Miss Marshall described her panic when he contacted her to say Jacob had a fall and that an ambulance was coming.

She caught a taxi to Whiston Hospital, where she was met by her crying mum, two sisters and Simpson, and told that Jacob was critically ill.

Her family didn’t believe Simpson’s explanation that Jacob had fallen off the couch and hit his head on a radiator.

The court heard Jacob’s aunt Kelly Martyn told him: “If I find out you’ve put a f***ing finger on that boy, I will kill you.”

Outside a waiting room, Miss Marshall said Simpson hugged her and said: “You can’t let this ruin us, you can’t let what they’re saying turn you against me.”

She said: “I just looked at him and I said ‘you were supposed to be looking after him’. His response was ‘I know’ – that’s all he said.

“I said ‘you need to go’ and stuff and he was walking off saying ‘I love you, I love you’.”

Neighbour Stephen Forster told the jury Simpson came out of the house at around 3.40pm and asked if he could do CPR.

He found Jacob lying on a kitchen rug, unresponsive and breathing “slightly”, with a “massive lump” on his forehead

Mr Forster recalled asking “how long is the ambulance going to be?” and Simpson replying: “Oh I haven’t rung one yet.”

He said Simpson rang 999 but was playing down Jacob’s injuries, before he left the phone on a worktop and went into the garden for a cigarette.

Mr Forster said: “He said ‘I was just having a ciggy because of my nerves’. I said ‘you can’t leave the phone, you don’t know what they’re asking’.

“Then he said the phone had died and he needed to charge it in the living room.”

Paramedics arrived at 4.10pm and were concerned by Simpson’s account and unexplained bruises to Jacob’s head, stomach, groin, arms, shins and feet.

Doctors at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital were also “suspicious” about bruising to the child’s penis and two bruises to his left inner ear. 

A CT scan revealed a subdural haemorrhage – blood compressing his brain – and retinal haemorrhages involving extensive bleeds in both eyes.

Nothing could be done to save Jacob, who died from his head injury late on Saturday, July 13. 

A Home Office pathologist told the jury that Jacob’s multiple injuries were “highly suspicious of fatal child abuse”.

Dr Jonathan Medcalf said falls down stairs “very rarely” resulted in death and it was “very unusual” for injuries to be so widespread.

The expert said he would have expected to see carpet burns and didn’t believe Simpson’s account “adequately explains the findings”.

Gordon Cole, QC, defending, asked if he could “rule out 100% a fall down the stairs.”

Dr Medcalf said: “I cannot rule it out as part of the fatal incident, a fall or a push or a throw down the stairs for example.”

The jury heard Simpson – who has a son from a past relationship – has six previous convictions from 2012 to 2016, including assault causing actual bodily harm and five offences of battery.

Simpson said after Miss Marshall went out, he left Jacob in the living room, rolled a cigarette and smoked it by the back door, when he heard a “metallic bang”.

He told jurors he found Jacob unresponsive at the bottom of the stairs, with his right foot stuck in an open stair gate, and “panicked”.

Simpson said he went to get help, then carried Jacob to the kitchen because his phone was on charge there and he needed it to call an ambulance.

He denied going out for a cigarette during the 999 call and said the phone cut off, so he moved to get a better signal.

Under cross-examination by John Benson, QC, prosecuting, Simpson denied that Jacob was injured at around 3.15pm, but he “delayed” getting help for some 30 minutes.

He said Jacob was walking around looking for his mum when she left, but denied he became upset and wouldn’t stop crying.

Simpson denied that Jacob was actually hurt in the kitchen and that he pinched his penis as a “nasty reaction” to him crying when changing his nappy and hit him in the ear.

Mr Benson said: “Did you shake Jacob and bang his head hard on that kitchen floor?” “No,” Simpson said.

“You did, didn’t you.” Simpson replied: “No.”

Asked why he told paramedics Jacob cried for two minutes before becoming unresponsive, he said: “Dunno.”

Mr Benson said: “Or was he crying for two minutes after you banged his head?” “No,” Simpson said.

The prosecutor continued: “…before the injury overwhelmed him. Is that what happened Mr Simpson?”

“No, that’s not what happened,” Simpson replied.

Simpson also rejected the suggestion that he planted a teddy bear by the sofa to make his initial lie more “credible”.

He handed himself in at Winsford Police Station at around 8.45pm on July 13, when he said to a special constable: “I’ve been good for three years, now I’ve gone and dropped a baby down the stairs.

Mr Benson said Simpson’s reaction to being arrest on suspicion of murder was: “F***ing stupid, pathetic.”

Simpson said he couldn’t remember that and denied trying to blame Miss Marshall for Jacob’s injuries in a text to police.

However, he accepted that when he said “if his mum watched him more and made the house more safe”, this was a reference to “the baby gates”.

Judge Menary thanked the six men and six women of the jury after they returned their verdict.

He said: “It’s one of the most difficult cases that this or any court will have to deal with. These are horrible cases and the court as you heard now will proceed to sentence tomorrow.”

The judge added: “These sort of cases will take an intellectual and emotional toll on you all. There are facilities available for people to speak to if you wish to do that.”

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Gareth Harries – Milford Haven

10 Wednesday Mar 2021

Posted by Author in Child Killer, Pembrokeshire

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July 2008

RAF man tried to blame wife after he killed baby daughter

An RAF technician who shook his baby daughter to death then blamed his wife for the killing was jailed for six years and eight months today.

Gareth Harries, 25, attacked eight-month-old Chloe when she would not stop crying.

He initially blamed his wife Hayley for their baby’s death, but admitted the culpable homicide of the infant during his trial at the High Court in Edinburgh.

The incident took place in November 2006 at the home he shared with his wife in Lossiemouth, where Harries was based.

Jailing Harries, Judge Lady Dorrian said today it was clear he must have used ‘significant force’.

She told him: ‘You used such force on a helpless baby. The consequences of that will be with you for the rest of your life.

‘I recognise that by pleading you have spared the need for your wife to give evidence, which would clearly have been traumatic for her.

‘However, it reflects very sadly on you that you waited until this stage to do so and even worse that you previously maintained a defence of incrimination, blaming your wife for the death of her own child, which must have made the traumatic effect of the child’s death even worse for her.’

Lady Dorrian said she took into account that Harries had expressed ‘deep and genuine remorse’ for his actions and also that he had not intended to harm his daughter.

But she added there was ‘no alternative’ but to impose a custodial sentence.

Harries, from Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, was originally charged with murdering Chloe. But he later admitted a lesser charge of culpable homicide, and killing his daughter by repeatedly shaking her.

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Philip Peace – Dudley

25 Thursday Feb 2021

Posted by Author in Child Killer, West Midlands

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February 2021

Dudley father who shook baby daughter to death jailed for life for her murder

Dudley father Philip Peace has today been jailed for life for murder after a jury found him guilty of shaking his five-month-old daughter to death.

Peace, aged 43, of Himley Road, was imprisoned for a minimum of 14 years over the murder of Summer Peace on September 9, 2017.

He violently shook her during a momentarily loss of temper the previous day which resulted in her suffering fatal brain injuries.

Sentencing Peace at Birmingham Crown Court today, Mr Justice Linden said: “What you have done will cast a long shadow over you and your family for the rest of your life.”

The incident happened within a two-minute period between two phone calls with another person just after 4pm on September 8, 2017, when Summer had become unsettled and was crying

Mr Linden said Peace and the caller struggled to hear one another as Summer was crying so loudly.

In sentencing peace, Mr Linden said: “Just after two minutes later, you called back and said Summer had collapsed and was not breathing properly.

“It is clear that the jury concluded that between these two calls you snapped and, at the very least, shook Summer so hard that her head moved on the axis between skull and neck with sufficient violence to cause serious damage to the area of the brain stem which controls a person’s heart beat and their breathing.

This, in turn, caused Summer immediate cardio-respiratory arrest and she collapsed.

“I accept your actions were out of character and you did not intend to kill her, although the jury found you intended to cause her serious injuries.

“She was clearly a delightful, happy, baby. She was in rude health and she had no reason to fear, or even suspect, that her life would be cut short in the way that it was.”

Summer was initially rushed to Russells Hall Hospital but was transferred to Birmingham Children’s Hospital, where died at 5.44pm the day after she collapsed.

After her collapse, Peace called 999 and carried out chest compressions while paramedics raced to the scene.

The judge praised paramedics who arrived on the scene three minutes after the 999 and called their work “exemplary”.

Mr Linden said the starting point for Mr Peace’s sentence was 15 years, but having weighed up aggravating and mitigating factors, he said: “Philip Peace, I sentence you to life in prison with a minimum term of 14 years.”

February 2021

Father convicted today of killing his baby daughter

A Dudley father has been convicted today of killing his baby daughter more than three years ago.

Philip Peace was caring for his daughter alone on the afternoon of 8 September 2017 when he reported to emergency services that she had become unresponsive.

Paramedics arrived at the property in Heath Green, and tried to resuscitate five-month-old Summer Peace.

She was taken to hospital where specialists battled to save her, but sadly her life support was withdrawn the next day as it became clear nothing could be done.

During a five week trial, medical experts told how they found evidence of injuries consistent with Summer having been shaken and then thrown against a semi-hard surface such as a sofa.

Her injuries included fractured ribs, retinal bleeding and a catastrophic brain injury, so severe that it had been the cause of her immediate respiratory collapse that afternoon.

And after deliberating for three days the jury reached their verdict that 43-year-old Peace is guilty of murder.

He will be sentenced tomorrow.

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Davey Everson/Kirsty Burdett – Rickmansworth

05 Friday Feb 2021

Posted by Author in Child Killer, Hertfordshire

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February 2021

Rickmansworth man Davey Everson jailed for Millie-Rose Burdett murder

A man who killed his girlfriend’s baby in a “sustained assault” has been jailed for life.

Davey Everson, 23, had been convicted of the murder of three-month-old Millie-Rose Burdett, who died in hospital on 11 January 2019.

A judge at the Old Bailey said he must serve a minimum jail term of 18 years.

The baby’s mother, Kirsty Burdett, 25, of Rickmansworth, was convicted of causing or allowing the death of her daughter and was jailed for six years.

At a sentencing hearing, the court heard how Everson was said to have “used inappropriate and excessive force” during the baby’s short life and had become “riled” that the child had begun to look like her biological father.

During the pair’s trial at St Albans Crown Court, the jury heard Millie-Rose was admitted to Watford General Hospital on 15 December 2018 with multiple fractures, bruising and a bleed on the brain, from which she never recovered.

She later died in a coma at King’s College Hospital in London.

The jury heard Everson, who lived in Haselbury Road, in Edmonton, London, had begun a relationship with Burdett, of Nightingale Road, Rickmansworth, Hertfordshire, when she was pregnant.

He was alone with the baby when the fatal injuries were inflicted, but told emergency services she choked and stopped breathing while he was feeding her.

Prosecutors said the brain injury suggested a “strong possibility of a non-accidental injury having taken place” and it was likely Everson injured her by “shaking or throwing her against a surface”.

The baby was later found to have suffered 12 fractured ribs and two leg fractures before the fatal assault took place.

The jury also heard Burdett “failed to take reasonable steps to protect Millie” and “covered up for [Everson]”.

Passing sentence, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said it was a “sustained assault on a small baby” and, referring to the existing injuries, said Everson had “caused her acute and lasting pain for half of her short life”.

“One of the things that upset you, Everson, was that Millie-Rose was beginning to resemble her biological father, and that riled you,” she said.

Everson and Burdett were also given four and two-month jail sentences, respectively, for cruelty to a person under 16, involving another child who cannot be named.

February 2021

Couple found guilty over the death of baby Millie Rose Burdett

A man who violently shook and threw a baby in a fit of rage has been convicted of murder.

Davey Everson, 23, was found guilty at St Albans Crown Court of the murder of three-month-old Millie Rose Burdett, who died in hospital in January 2019.

Millie Rose’s mother, and Everson’s partner, Kirsty Burdett, was also in court and she was found guilty of causing or allowing the death of her daughter.

Millie Rose suffered a catalogue of injuries during her short life, including 23 broken bones, and she was never able to recover from a bleed on the brain she received in December 2018 after being shook by Everson at Burdett’s home in Rickmansworth.

The Crown Prosecution Service says Burdett, who began a relationship with Everson, of Enfield, when she was pregnant with Millie Rose, chose to “cover up her partner’s actions” and that she “lied on his behalf to the authorities”.

St Albans Crown Court heard during the trial that although not the biological father of Millie Rose, Everson had expressed the wish “to take her on and be a father to her” after she was born.

However, within weeks of Millie Rose’s birth, questions had been raised about his suitability for the role and social services had become involved, it was claimed.

Witnesses, including a social worker, health visitor and family members, described Everson being “heavy-handed” and “rough” when feeding Millie Rose, including causing bruising to her face when he winded her. He was referred for parenting classes by the social worker.

On the first day of the trial, prosecutor David Spens QC said Millie Rose had been taken to Watford General Hospital on November 20 2018, after she had been “screaming in pain”.

Mr Spens said it was subsequently diagnosed Millie Rose was suffering from “colic”, a term used when a baby cries a lot but there’s no obvious cause.

But, following her death, the post-mortem examination was to reveal fractures to the baby’s ribs that had been sustained at some point around November 18.

The jury heard a member of Burdett’s family had seen Everson’s frustration when trying to feed the Millie Rose from a bottle which appeared to be too big for her.

At one point the witness said he had “shoved the bottle hard into her mouth saying f…… drink it – take it you f…… bitch”.

Mr Spens said although Burdett had not witnessed that particular incident, she was later to admit in interview that there was an occasion that Everson had shoved a bottle into the baby’s mouth so hard that it made her mouth bleed.

On another occasion, to explain bruising to Millie Rose’s face, Burdett is said to have told her mother that she had fallen from a car seat which had not properly fitted her buggy.

After the baby’s death she was interviewed and said it was a lie and that her boyfriend had caused the bruising.

The jury was then told how, on December 11 2018, a health visitor who went to Miss Burdett’s home noted there were indications the baby was failing to thrive.

The health visitor gave the mum advice as to “upping her calorie intake” and also noticed there was a bruise on each of the baby’s cheeks the size of finger marks.

He said, asked by the health visitor how the baby had obtained them, the mother said Mr Everson was “heavy handed” with her.

Mr Spens said: “By December it must have been clear to Kirsty Burdett that Davey Everson had serious problems with controlling his anger.

“However, rather than reporting his behaviour and ending the relationship, Kirsty Burdett had defended him, covered up for him.”

The court was told that, following a 999 call made from the mother’s phone on December 15 during which the operator was told Millie Rose wasn’t breathing properly, she was taken by ambulance from her home to Watford General Hospital.

At the house, Mr Everson is said to have claimed to a paramedic that he had been feeding her a bottle of milk in a bedroom when she choked and stopped breathing.

At the hospital a CT scan showed the baby was suffering from a bleed on her brain which, said the prosecutor, suggested a “strong possibility of a non-accidental injury having taken place”.

Later that day Mr Everson was arrested at the hospital on suspicion of attempted murder, with Millie Rose later transferred from Watford General to Kings College Hospital in London.

It was also discovered the baby had suffered multiple fractures of different ages to both sides of her chest and to the front and back ribs.

In addition, she had a fracture to her right femur and a fracture to her left tibia which, said Mr Spens, was “consistent with the to and fro from movement of the legs during violent shaking”.

He said although the fractures the baby had suffered were non-life threatening, the brain injury was severe and, unable to breathe on her own, she was put on a ventilator.

She continued to remain in a coma and the opinions of the neurology and neuroradiology teams were that her head injuries were so severe that there was little hope of independent survival.

On 11 January 2019, Mr Spens said it was determined that ongoing intensive care support was futile and would be withdrawn, and Millie Rose died that day.

The jury was told Millie Rose died as a result of traumatic head injuries.

Following the guilty verdicts for Everson and Burdett, senior crown prosecutor Rebecca Waller said: “This is a tragic case of a defenceless infant who suffered horrendous treatment at the hands of a violent man and was failed by her mother, who had a duty to protect her from harm.

“Both defendants repeatedly lied about Millie Rose’s frequent injuries. However, evidence from medical experts has enabled us to get to the truth of what happened to her during her short life, and secure Everson’s conviction for her untimely death.

“The jury have also concluded that Millie Rose’s mother did not take the steps she could and should have taken to keep her child safe, ultimately causing or allowing her death.”

Burdett and Everson were also convicted (February 4) of cruelty to a person under 16 years for their treatment of another child who cannot be identified due to ongoing reporting restrictions.

Both defendants will return to the Central Criminal Court on Friday February 12 for sentence.

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Caitlin Jones – Blackpool

04 Thursday Feb 2021

Posted by Author in Child Killer, Lancashire

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February 2021

Mother, 21, admits killing her eight-month-old baby girl 

A woman from Blackpool has admitted the manslaughter of her baby girl, who died of suffocation.

Caitlin Jones, 21, of Willowbank Avenue in Blackpool, was initially charged with the murder of her infant daughter Francesca Haworth.

She pleaded guilty to manslaughter at Preston Crown Court on Wednesday

Eight-month-old Francesca died in hospital after she was found unresponsive by the ambulance service at an address in Frederick Street, Blackpool, on 7 November 2018.

A Home Office post-mortem found the cause of her death was suffocation.

Jones was charged with murder in July last year, but her plea of guilty to manslaughter was accepted following consultation with the Crown Prosecution Service, the police spokesman said.

She was released on bail and will be sentenced in June.

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