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| Benjamin Roach guilty of baby daughter's manslaughter | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A man has been found guilty of killing his four-week-old daughter by shaking her violently the first time he was alone with her. | A man has been found guilty of killing his four-week-old daughter by shaking her violently the first time he was alone with her. |
| Benjamin Roach, 24, from Plymouth, had denied the manslaughter of Roxie-Jo Hopkins-Roach, who died in September 2010, but was convicted unanimously. | |
| One of her injuries was similar to what might be seen as a result of a road crash, Plymouth Crown Court was told. | |
| Roach, of Tailyour Road, is to be sentenced on Tuesday. | |
| Baby 'became floppy' | |
| Roach may have shaken the baby before throwing her down hard on to a sofa or bed, and the baby would have been blind if she had survived, the court heard. | |
| Police were called to the house in Plymstock that Roach shared with Roxie-Jo's mother, Kelly Hopkins, on Thursday 23 September 2010. | |
| Roxie-Jo was brought to hospital and admitted at about 19:00 BST. She was then taken to a high-dependency unit where she died the day after, police said. | |
| Ms Hopkins, then 21, had left Roach and the baby in the house alone to get medicine for her baby, the court heard. | |
| Roach told police that Roxie was "screaming" and "crying heavily" after he was left alone with her. | |
| He picked her up to calm her down but said she suddenly became "floppy". | |
| He later changed his story and also said he had dropped her four feet (1.2m) on to a carpeted floor. | |
| He also told police he shook her in "panic" when she lost consciousness to try to get a response from her, the court heard. |