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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Chris Kitching

Man who twice shook baby so violently it suffered brain damage is spared jail

A man who violently shook a baby on two occasions and caused brain damage to the child has been spared jail.

Joshua Bagshaw, 24, was instead handed a suspended sentence which includes a 30-day rehabilitation activity requirement and 180 hours of unpaid work.

The baby has largely recovered from its injuries, but it is not known if the child will have any long-term health problems, Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard.

Bagshaw, of Abbey Hulton, said the infant had a twitch on one side of its body when he called paramedics for help, StokeonTrentLive reports.

He is said to have told medics: "It's like it has a spasm and I don't know what it is".

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The baby was taken to Royal Stoke University Hospital, where doctors determined the child had haemorrhaging and swelling to the brain.

"Extensive bleeding" was discovered when the infant was transferred to Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool, Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court heard.

Prosecutor Andrew Smith QC said "a doctor concluded the likely cause was from suffering a recent head injury or by forcible shaking".

Bagshaw pleaded guilty to two counts of grievous bodily harm on the basis that he did not intend to cause injury.

Mr Smith said: "By his pleas of guilty he accepts the injuries were inflicted by him. The injuries were caused in two shaking-type events."

Barry White, mitigating, said of Bagshaw: "He is genuinely remorseful. He is quite affected by everything that happened."

Judge David Fletcher said: "The child had undergone some damage to its brain on at least two separate occasions.

"There was shaking of the child. That is the best way of describing what occurred. You accept it was your behaviour that caused the injuries."

Bagshaw must also pay £500 costs.

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