Joshua died in July last year

"Their trust in you was total and you betrayed it."

Joshua died in July last year after being shaken by Bayfield at her home in Addiscombe, south London.

Bayfield shook the child to death in a "momentary loss of temper", causing his eyes to bleed and brain haemorrhage.

Judge Beaumont said: "I take into account the shaking that killed him may have been momentary.

"But the plain fact is that the shaking you gave him having lost control was sufficiently violent to cause him immediate and irrecoverable injury."

Parents' 'disappointment'

Bayfield was found guilty of manslaughter last month, but was released on bail over Christmas, as reports were prepared.

She was cleared of murdering Joshua by the judge's direction earlier in the trial.

The death of our precious baby son has devastated our lives

Ken Osborne

Joshua's parents, Libby and Ken Osborne, of Addiscombe, Croydon were in court to hear the sentence.

Outside court, Mr Osborne said he and his wife were glad Bayfield had been jailed but were disappointed at how short the sentence was.

"The death of our precious baby son has devastated our lives.

"Nothing will bring Joshua back, but we hope lessons have been learned so no other family will have to go through what we have."

Denied charges

They couple had hired Bayfield after seeing glowing references from the childminder, who had 25 years experience.

I remember holding him either side of his body. I shook him twice and said 'Joshua' as I shook him

Linda Bayfield

However, they were unaware of her history.

Bayfield admitted smacking the three-year-old girl at a trial in 1986, but denied a charge of actual bodily harm, and was acquitted by a jury at Croydon Crown Court.

Attempts to suspend her from the childminder's register were successfully appealed and she was able to continue her work with children.

Following the 1986 trial, Bayfield was investigated again in 1992, after another parent made a complaint to social services.

As a result, an inspector made monthly checks on Bayfield at her home for the next six months.

A spokesman from the authority said: "We took the 1986 incident very seriously but nothing in our inspections gave us concerns about her care.

"There was nothing to alert us to what eventually happened."

'Firm shake'

During the 999 call on the day of Joshua's death, Bayfield was instructed to give mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to the dying baby.

At the trial, Bayfield told how she desperately tried to revive the child when he had stopped breathing.

"I remember holding him either side of his body. I shook him twice and said 'Joshua' as I shook him.

"It was a firm shake. It wasn't violent."

Pathologist Professor Rupert Risdon said baby Joshua's head injuries were consistent with an adult losing their temper and 'inappropriate handling of a child'.