Father snapped daughter's spine

Howson claimed his partner Tina Hunt attacked Amy

A father has been convicted of murdering his baby daughter who died when her spine was "snapped in two".

James Howson, 25, of Nelson Road, in Edlington, Doncaster, held 16-month-old Amy over his knee and broke her back in two, Leeds Crown Court heard.

Amy was malnourished and dehydrated in the months before her killing.

Her mother, Tina Hunt, 26, had earlier admitted allowing the death of a child and child cruelty. The pair are due to be sentenced on Friday.

The court was told the youngster was covered in fractures and bruises from a number of assaults.

The jury took three-and-a-half hours to convict Howson.

Blamed partner

He was also found guilty of child cruelty linked to the assaults.

At the time of her daughter's death Hunt was 12 weeks pregnant.

During the trial Howson blamed his partner, saying she may have been responsible for Amy's death.

He added: "That's all I can put it down to. I did not inflict any injuries on my daughter at all."

The court was told that at about 2130 GMT on 24 December, 2007, Howson had heard a bang upstairs where his daughter was sleeping in bed at the family home.

The girl's mother has admitted allowing the death

He said he had gone to check on her and discovered her lying on the floor with a mark on her forehead about the size of a five pence piece.

He checked on the child later and noticed the bruise had got bigger, he claimed.

Howson said he had taken Amy downstairs, put butter on the bruise and then smoked a cannabis joint before falling asleep with the child.

He told the jury he had woken to find his daughter was not breathing.

Amy was taken to Doncaster Royal Infirmary but died.

Pathologists cited the cause of her death as a spinal injury, along with a serious head injury.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version