Crash man jailed for hurting baby

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/england/lincolnshire/6522369.stm

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A man who staged a car crash to cover up injuries he inflicted on a baby has been jailed for seven years.

Timothy Mallard, 23, of Edinburgh Road, Stamford, deliberately drove into a tree with the four-month-old girl in the front seat in October 2005.

The child had sustained severe burns to her hands and feet and Mallard wanted to pass these off as having been caused by a car fire.

He admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent and child cruelty.

There has to be a substantial prison sentence because I must reflect society's abhorrence to such cruelty to a defenceless baby Judge Michael Heath

Mallard's partner, Tracey Watson, received a 12-month suspended sentence.

Neither will be allowed to work with children for the rest of their lives.

Lincoln Crown Court heard Mallard, who has an IQ of just 75, drove the car into the tree on a country lane near Witham-on-the-Hill, Lincolnshire, 48 hours after the child sustained severe scalding burns to her hands and feet.

The court heard that, after the crash, he set the vehicle alight then dangled the child in the flames before flagging down a motorist claiming she had been hurt in a crash.

The pretence was exposed when doctors subsequently examined the baby, also finding other injuries inflicted a few days earlier.

Passing sentence, Judge Michael Heath said: "What you did was, to that four-month-old baby, simply dreadful and it is my public duty to punish you severely for it.

"There has to be a substantial prison sentence because I must reflect society's abhorrence to such cruelty to a defenceless baby."

Afterwards, Det Insp Stuart Gibbon, who was involved in the investigation, said: "This was without doubt, in all my years of experience, the most serious case that I've ever dealt with.

"I've never come across anything quite as severe as that before in my career."