Second jail term for girl assault

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A man has been sentenced to a year in prison for the manslaughter of a seven-year-old girl.

Owain Huw Owen, from Amlwch, Anglesey, was jailed in 2001 after admitting inflicting grievous bodily harm on Shauna Erin Griffiths.

After she died from her injuries in 2007, he pleaded guilty to a charge of manslaughter.

The judge at Mold Crown Court said: "No prison sentence can begin to compensate for the loss of that person's life."

Brain damaged

Judge John Rogers QC added: "Nor can any sentence provide any sort of consolation for her loving and devoted parents, Mr and Mrs Dafydd Griffiths."

The judge said that Owain Huw Owen's sentence reflected his guilty pleas The court was told that it was an appropriate sentence because it took into account Owen's guilty pleas in both cases, and the fact he was of good character.

In 2001 he had been jailed for three years after he admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm on Shauna in June 2000.

He had shaken the baby so violently in an attack in Porthmadog that she was left blind and brain-damaged.

Ancient Rule

The girl died peacefully at the home of her adopted parents in August 2007.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said this manslaughter trial was one of just a handful granted every year by the Attorney General and the first ever granted in north Wales.

We hope that by applying this rarely used legal provision, we have given Shauna and those who devoted themselves to caring for her, the justice they deserve Gerallt Evans, CPS The Attorney General used powers under the Law of Reform Act 1996, which abolished an ancient rule that a person could not be charged with murder or manslaughter if the victim died more than a year and a day after the assault.

CPS North Wales Assistant District Crown Prosecutor for Western Division Gerallt Evans said: "This was an extremely tragic case and Shauna's plight touched all of us who dealt with the case.

"We hope that by applying this rarely used legal provision, we have given Shauna and those who devoted themselves to caring for her, the justice they deserve."