A ‘monstrous’ couple who abused their baby girl and left her with more than 60 broken bones – before blaming her injuries on the paramedics who tried to save her life – have been jailed for a total of 15 years.
Benjamin O’Shea, 26, and Naomi Johnson, 23, were each found guilty of the physical abuse of their eight-week-old daughter Amina, and also of cruelty to another child, in a case described by police as both ‘shocking’ and ‘heart-breaking’.
O’Shea was handed a prison term of eight years and eight months at the Inner London Crown Court today, while Johnson was given seven years and two months.
Paramedics were called after Amina stopped breathing on April 26, 2019, but despite their best efforts she sadly died at the scene in Southwark, central London.
The pair repeatedly lied about the circumstances leading to little Amina’s death and tried to shift the blame onto others for the injuries – including their family GP.
Amina was found to have over 60 fractured bones, including 41 identified fractures to her ribs, anteriorly and posteriorly, and 24 fractures to her limbs.
The cause of death was originally thought to be Sudden Unexplained Death, before a post-mortem revealed the horrifying catalogue of injuries.
Benjamin O’Shea, 26, and Naomi Johnson (pictured), 23, were each found guilty of the physical abuse their eight-week-old daughter Amina, and also of cruelty to another child
Tragic: Little Amina (pictured) was found to have over 60 fractured bones, including 41 identified fractures to her ribs, anteriorly and posteriorly, and 24 limb bone fractures
O’Shea (pictured) was handed a prison term of eight years and eight months, while Johnson will serve seven years and two months
As part of their investigation into Amina’s death, detectives from the Met’s Homicide and Serious Crime Command looked through texts exchanged between the couple.
They found that O’Shea boasted of his military service when he had actually been a reservist for a couple of years.
He had also made multiple calls to NHS 111 between 2016 and 2019 speaking about his self-diagnosed PTSD and aggression issues.
O’Shea initially told paramedics that he had taken Amina to a GP for a routine check-up on the day before her death.
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He said she seemed grumpy after waking up at 7.30am the next morning and that Johnson had given her some paracetamol so she would go back to sleep.
O’Shea then told paramedics that he put her back to bed and phoned 999 after finding her unresponsive 20 minutes later.
He later told doctors in hospital that they had given Amina paracetamol before she went to sleep, and that she woke up at 1am.
Amina is then said to have been given more paracetamol, fed and put back to bed, before Johnson woke to her crying at 7.30am.
O’Shea added that when going to check on Anima and putting his ear to her chest, she appeared to have a faint heart beat and her arms looked floppy.
Radiologists found the multiple fractures were highly indicative that Amina had suffered continued physical abuse because some were relatively recent and others had started to heal, according to police.
Johnson and O’Shea claimed in police interviews that Amina’s death was due to the GP visit and the fractures caused by the paramedics (file photo of Inner London Crown Court)
No cause of death could be given from the post-mortem but, due to the injuries sustained, a criminal investigation was launched on May 3, 2019.
Johnson and O’Shea were arrested and claimed in police interviews that Amina’s death was due to the GP visit and the fractures caused by the paramedics.
In relation to the second child, who was known to the pair but cannot be identified for legal reasons, police found texts between the couple where they admit to slapping and treating the child poorly.
Detective Inspector Melanie Pressley, who led the investigation, previously said: ‘This is a truly heart-breaking case that has touched all of us who have worked on bringing Johnson and O’Shea before the court for their monstrous crimes.
‘The cruelty and callousness with which the pair discussed the treatment of the other child in this case is shocking. Children depend on adults and the children in this case were sorely betrayed by Johnson and O’Shea in the most tragic of ways.
‘In eight weeks of life Amina suffered an unimaginable number of injuries. The trauma she endured in her short life is impossible to comprehend, her injuries are a catalogue of the most despicable abuse. Equally incomprehensible is how an adult can inflict such cruelty on defenceless, innocent children.
‘Throughout our investigation we have been unable to establish how the baby died and Johnson and O’Shea have been steadfast in their refusal to answer our questions.
‘They have sought to protect themselves in a way they clearly did not for the two children in this case.’
DC Caroline Baker, part of the investigation team, added: ‘It is difficult to speak of justice in a case like this, however I hope that today’s verdict is a clear message that these children mattered and the abuse they suffered will be punished.’
This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk
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