Teenager who shook his partner's baby to death has been jailed

Warning: Some readers may find the details in this article upsetting

A teenager has been sentenced after shaking his partner's four-month-old baby to death in Derbyshire.

Carl Alesbrook has been handed an indefinite prison sentence.

He was 16 when he killed four-month-old Elijah Shemwell, just seven weeks after meeting the child's mother in November 2021.

India Shemwell has been sentenced to three years after pleading guilty at an earlier hearing to 2 counts of cruelty to a person under 16.

"She could and should have taken far better care of Elijah"

An earlier hearing revealed medical evidence showing Elijah had suffered brain damage and a bleed to the brain from shaking on three separate occasions, including on New Year's Day and January 2nd 2022.

Baby Elijah went into cardiac arrest and suffered a serious brain injury from the trauma. He was taken to hospital where he died three days later.

He died from catastrophic injuries pathologists confirmed could only have been sustained in a violent assault.

Alesbrook, now 19, was found guilty of murder and causing grievous bodily harm with intent a trial at Derby Crown Court.

He denied causing any harm to Elijah but was unanimously convicted of both charges by the jury.

A post-mortem examination found Elijah had suffered 17 visible injuries which included bleeding on the brain, bruising to the face, abdomen and chest and several fractured bones.

Alesbrook has been handed a minimum term of 12 years & 314 days before considered eligible for parole.

The teenager repeatedly denied the charges to detectives

"He tried to hoodwink the jury by spinning a story that sought to cover up his guilt."

DCI Greg McGill, who led the investigation into Elijah's death, said: "Carl Alesbrook was 16 years old at the time of Elijah's death.

"While a child himself, even a teenager knows the fatal risks posed by shaking a four-month-old baby boy.

“But this was no single incident and the court heard how on more than one occasion Alesbrook assaulted Elijah.

“The force used to squeeze his tiny body broke his ribs – while the shaking caused such significant damage that his brain become starved of oxygen leading to his death.

“Alesbrook has never been able to bring himself to admit his guilt, even in the face of such a mountain of evidence.

“He tried to hoodwink the jury by spinning a story that sought to cover up his guilt - but they saw through his lies and half-truths, and I am grateful for their careful consideration that has ultimately found him guilty.

“While we may never know the motive for Elijah’s murder – what we now know who is responsible – and that person is Carl Alesbrook.

“There is another person involved in the circumstances that led to Elijah’s death. She is someone that Elijah should have been able to trust without question – his mother India Shemwell.

“The evidence we uncovered during our investigation showed a young woman who was more concerned with her sexual relationships and drug taking, than she was making sure her baby was safe.

“She left Elijah in the hands of a someone she barely knew – but even with her limited knowledge it should have been absolutely clear that Alesbrook was plainly unfit through both his age and habitual drug use to look after her boy.

“While India was quite simply an appalling mother, she could never have foreseen the brutal actions of Alesbrook. However, it is quite clear that she could and should have taken far better care of Elijah and she will have to live with the consequences of both her action and inaction for the rest of her life.

“I would like to finish by remembering the most important person in this case – and that is Elijah.

“He was at the heart of this investigation, and it was for him that we sought justice.

“Today, we have done that.”

Shemwell, who was described during the trial as a "thoroughly inadequate mother", admitted two counts of child cruelty, including the fact that she did not dial emergency services more quickly after Elijah became unwell.

The court heard she sent a video of Elijah unresponsive with a floppy arm to friends on Facebook to ask for advice on his condition on 1 January.

CCTV shown to the jury in Alesbrook’s trial showed her visiting a shop on the night of the fatal assault.

Jurors were told Shemwell also filmed video of Elijah struggling to breathe before she dialled 999 at 10.33pm on 2 January, leading to him being taken by paramedics to Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham.

The prosecution told the jury trying Alesbrook that they "heavily criticise" the mother's "neglect" towards her son, but argued that she did no cause any of the injuries.

At the start of the trial it was alleged that Shemwell’s sexual relationship with her baby’s father, who she was separated from, may have caused Alesbrook “some understandable frustration at the uncertainty of the status of his relationship” with her.

The prosecution also alleged that a toothache suffered by Alesbrook at the time caused him to “lose his temper” with Elijah.

Alesbrook denied that either of these factors caused him to act violently, but he was unanimously convicted by the jury after around 10 hours of deliberations.

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