Childminder jailed for killing baby boy

A childminder was jailed for 12 years and seven months for killing a nine-month-old boy by shaking him to death in frustration.

Karen Foster, 62, left Harlow Collinge with unsurvivable brain injuries after he had been dropped off at her home by his mother Gemma Collinge, the court heard.

Harlow was taken to hospital from the address in Hapton, near Burnley, Lancashire, in March 2022.

Foster, a registered childminder with nine years experience, called 999 to say he was not breathing, and told a paramedic he had "suddenly collapsed".

After Harlow was rushed away by ambulance, Foster hugged his mother at the hospital and claimed the youngster had begun choking and that she had slapped him on the back.

But she later tried to blame Ms Collinge for the injuries. Harlow died days later in his parents’ arms having suffered massive brain injuries.

Foster was due to stand trial for murder last week but prosecutors accepted a plea of manslaughter on the basis that her "forceful shaking" caused Harlow's death after he fell out of his high chair and began crying.

The judge, Mr Justice Cotter, jailed her for 12 years and seven months.

Passing sentence at Preston Crown Court, he said: "You should have been a safe pair of hands to which Gemma Collinge could ensure her precious child.

"I have no doubt you snapped on the 1 March 2022, in part due to the fact that you were not coping with the demands of caring for four children. You lost your temper and he was on the receiving end.

"You shook an [almost] ten-month-old child so violently to cause devastating injuries. His death was caused in the course of an assault."

The judge's sentencing remarks can be read in full at: https://www.judiciary.uk/judgments/r-...

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