She was just eight weeks old
A couple have been jailed after leaving their two-month-old baby with more than 60 broken bones before she died.
Benjamin O’Shea, 26, and Naomi Johnson, 24, claimed paramedics caused the fractures suffered by their daughter Amina.
They were both found guilty of causing or allowing their daughter to suffer physical harm.
O’Shea has been sentenced to eight years and eight months in jail, while Johnson was handed a jail term of seven years and two months.
In total, the baby girl had 41 fractures to her ribs and 24 fractures to her limbs, according to the Metropolitan police. Doctors concluded the injuries were “highly indicative that Amina had suffered continued physical abuse.”
Breaking: The parents of eight-week-old baby Amina-Faye Johnson have been jailed after she died with more than 60 broken bones in her body. Benjamin O'Shea was sentenced to nearly 9 yrs and Naomi Johnson for just over 7 years for child cruelty offences https://t.co/P5yFFGwcay pic.twitter.com/jYNmtNCovU
— David Mercer (@DavidMercerSky) January 28, 2022
On April 26 2019, Johnson and O’Shea called 999 after their daughter stopped breathing, with paramedics arriving on the scene within minutes.
Amina died at the scene.
The Met said that there were no visible signs of injury and that the eight-week-old was initially thought to have suffered a sudden unexplained death.
It was only after X-rays that the extent of the abuse she experienced was revealed.
Some fractures were recent while others had started to heal, suggesting Amina had been repeatedly abused, the force added.
Although no cause of death was established, the police launched an investigation due to the extent of the baby’s injuries, and Johnson and O’Shea were arrested.
The couple claimed their daughter’s death was the result of a visit to the GP, blaming her inoculation, and that paramedics had caused the fractures.
A medical expert concluded that the baby’s limb bone fractures were caused on at least seven occasions, and the rib fractures were the result of at least two incidents.
There was also evidence of past bleeding inside Amina’s head.
The couple were found guilty on November 30 last year, when they were also found guilty of cruelty to a person under-16 in relation to a separate child.
Detective Inspector Melanie Pressley, who led the police investigation into the case said after the guilty verdict that the couple had committed “monstrous crimes.”
DI Pressley added: “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.”
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