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| Father snapped daughter's spine | Father snapped daughter's spine |
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| A father has been convicted of murdering his baby daughter who died when her spine was "snapped in two". | A father has been convicted of murdering his baby daughter who died when her spine was "snapped in two". |
| James Howson, 25, of Nelson Road, in Edlington, Doncaster, was found guilty of killing 16-month-old Amy. He held the baby over his knee and broke her back in two, Leeds Crown Court heard. | James Howson, 25, of Nelson Road, in Edlington, Doncaster, was found guilty of killing 16-month-old Amy. He held the baby over his knee and broke her back in two, Leeds Crown Court heard. |
| Amy was malnourished and dehydrated in the months before her killing. | Amy was malnourished and dehydrated in the months before her killing. |
| Her mother, Tina Hunt, 26, had earlier admitted allowing the death of a child and child cruelty. | Her mother, Tina Hunt, 26, had earlier admitted allowing the death of a child and child cruelty. |
| The court was told the youngster was covered in fractures and bruises from a number of assaults. | The court was told the youngster was covered in fractures and bruises from a number of assaults. |
| The jury took three-and-a-half hours to convict Howson, who is due to be sentenced alongside Hunt on Friday. | The jury took three-and-a-half hours to convict Howson, who is due to be sentenced alongside Hunt on Friday. |
| He was also found guilty of child cruelty linked to the assaults. | He was also found guilty of child cruelty linked to the assaults. |
| Howson claimed his partner Tina Hunt attacked Amy | |
| At the time of her daughter's death Hunt was 12 weeks pregnant. | |
| During the trial Howson blamed his partner, saying that she may have been responsible for Amy's death. | |
| He added: "That's all I can put it down to. I did not inflict any injuries on my daughter at all." | |
| The court was told that at about 2130 GMT on 24 December, 2007, he heard a bang upstairs where his daughter was sleeping in bed at the family home. | |
| He said he went to check on her and discovered her lying on the floor with a mark on her forehead about the size of a five pence piece. He checked on the child later and noticed the bruise had got bigger. | |
| He brought Amy downstairs, put butter on the bruise and then went for a cannabis joint before falling asleep with the child. | |
| Mr Howson told the jury he woke to find his daughter was not breathing. | |
| Amy was taken to Doncaster Royal Infirmary but died. | |
| Pathologists cited the cause of her death as a spinal injury, along with a serious head injury. |