One Of The Worse Cases Of Abuse Of A Baby

A 27 year old British mother, her 32 year old boyfriend, and another man, Jason Owen are charged with murdering her 17 month old son. The abuse was so bad that the jury is being shown computer generated images so that they don't have to view the actual images.
Parts of the boy's fingernails and fingertips were missing, his head was covered in ulcerated sores and the skin between his upper lip and gum had been torn which, the court heard, was "highly suggestive of non-accidental injury, usually by forcing the teat of a bottle into a child's mouth or by a hard glancing blow across the mouth".

His fingernails, it was said, may have been deliberately removed.

His spine may have been broken when he was forced over the back of an adult’s knee or banister rail, jurors heard.

He also had many bruises to his face and body and was probably bitten on his scalp by a dog at the house. The baby was hit so hard on the night that he died in August last year that one of his teeth was found in his stomach.
In December 2006 the boy was hospitalized and removed from his mother's care. He was placed with a family friend. The mother and grandmother were later arrested for abuse. But within a month he was back in his mother's care, even though the home was filthy and smelled of urine.
Two days before he was murdered he was taken to hospital to have his development assessed.
Experts will say that a number of injuries, including the spinal injury, were inflicted at least 48 hours before his death "and despite causing him extreme pain, he would have been paraplegic, that is, unable to move his lower limbs".

She added that this would have been evidenced at the very least by floppiness "and could not fail to have been observed by a competent doctor who had examined (the child) properly".

However a Locum Consultant Paediatrician at the Clinic, who knew the child was on the Child Protection Register, said she could not carry out a full systematic examination as the child was miserable and cranky, it was said.

"That may not seem to you or me to be the best reason for a Consultant Paediatrician to not fully examine a child who is known to be on the CPR," said Ms O'Neill. What kind of pediatrician can't examine a cranky baby? Is this the kind of care that you get with universal healthcare? The next day the mother and grandmother were told that no charges would be pressed against them.
The next day, at 11.35am a 999 call was made from the child's house and when paramedics arrived they found him blue with no signs of life. He was taken to the ambulance.

Ms O'Neill said of the mother: "Once she had collected her cigarettes she went with (the child) in the back of the ambulance." But he was dead on arrival at hospital and the three were arrested. This woman makes Casey Anthony seem like a saint by comparsion.
All three people are being charged because they all lived in the home, and even if they weren't abusing him they should have known he was in danger because of the extent of his injuries. By that logic they should be charging the pediatrician too.
Also of Interest:
Other Bizarre Crimes I Came Across This Week 5 September
Caylee Anthony Update 9 September
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