March 4, 2011

A MAN left a two-month-old baby with severe learning and physical disabilities after throwing the child into the air and shaking it.

Jason Powers, 37, was alone with the baby when the assault happened.
Prosecutor Simon Waley told Hull Crown Court the child was left "gasping for breath" with a "grey face" after being thrown into the air and shaken.
Powers, of Linnaeus Street, west Hull, then carried the baby into the hallway and asked a second person, who cannot be named for legal reasons, if he should call an ambulance.
He told a paramedic he had tried to wake the baby up but said the child had gone all floppy.
The baby was taken to Hull Royal Infirmary, where doctors discovered the child had suffered severe brain damage.
The baby, who has been left unable to sit up or roll over, now has cerebral palsy and problems with vision.
The long-term outlook is one of severe physical and learning disabilities, and it is unlikely the child will be able to attend a mainstream school.
The court heard Powers was seen handling the baby, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, inappropriately on "more than one occasion" leading up to the assault.
Two hours before the assault, which happened on May 8 last year, Powers picked up the child without supporting its head and threw the baby up and down in the air.
He initially denied causing harm to the tot, but later pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm without intent.
David Bradshaw, defending, said Powers was of low intelligence and had wanted to play with the baby rather than cause an injury.
He said: "He is genuinely remorseful for the damage he has caused."
Powers was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
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