'Reckless and irresponsible' Wiltshire father jailed for 14 years after killing his baby
A "reckless and irresponsible" father who shook his three-month-old daughter, causing her un-survivable head injuries, has been jailed for 14 years.
Samuel Warnock, 29, of Devizes in Wiltshire, previously pleaded guilty at Winchester Crown Court to the manslaughter of Miyah Warnock in 2021.
His wife and Miyah’s mother, Jasmine Warnock, 29, was also sentenced to a three-year community order with 30 rehabilitation days after pleading guilty to child cruelty for failing to stop her husband from assaulting their daughter.
"Controlling and coercive behaviour"
Sentencing the pair, the judge, Mrs Justice May, said that the death came against a background of domestic abuse by Warnock against his wife.
She described Warnock as a “reckless and irresponsible new father, prone to anger, easily frustrated, profoundly needy and dangerously incapable of caring properly for a tiny new baby”.
The judge told Mrs Warnock: “You are to some extent a victim of controlling and coercive behaviour and this impacted your ability to recognise what he was doing but it didn’t render you entirely powerless.”
Caroline Carberry KC, prosecuting, told the court that Miyah was admitted to Bristol Children’s Hospital on September 20, 2021, where she died on October 19.
She said: “She had suffered a traumatic head injury which caused her heart to stop and left her with un-survivable brain injuries.”
Smoking cannabis around the baby
She said the fatal incident happened two days after Warnock had called 999 reporting that Miyah was having difficulties breathing but she was deemed to be normal after paramedics carried out observations.
Warnock had been alone with his daughter for 25 minutes when Miyah suffered her fatal collapse, the court heard.
Ms Carberry told the court that Warnock would smoke cannabis around the baby and had a history of violent offences including biting a police officer.
She said that family members had spotted bruising on Miyah’s legs and shoulders prior to the fatal incident, and friends later said they saw Warnock handling the baby inappropriately.
She said: “Friends were concerned about Samuel Warnock’s behaviour towards his daughter, his rough handling of her.
“He was smoking cannabis close to the Moses basket, he was seen to grab her out of the basket while she was asleep, holding her above his head and commenting it was like a scene in The Lion King.
“He was seen not to support her head and moving her body back and forth.”
"Ripped a hole in their lives"
Ms Carberry said that Warnock was on bail for dealing cannabis at the time of the fatal incident and had continued to deal drugs during the time when Miyah was being treated in intensive care.
She said that Warnock had been “controlling and coercive” towards his wife, but she had failed to raise the alarm when she knew he had caused Miyah injuries.
She said: “She ignored those red flags and the concerns of her own family about how her then-partner, now husband Samuel Warnock, and his volatility and the bruises to her baby were obvious to her and ought to have served as a warning sign that her baby was being abused.
“She chose, for some time, to believe Samuel Warnock when he provided her with excuses as to how their daughter was injured and she failed to protect her baby daughter.
“She is not responsible for assaulting the baby on any occasion, she was not present when the fatal injury was inflicted.”
Ms Carberry added that Miyah’s grandparents, who had regularly helped care for Miyah, were “devastated” at her death which had “ripped a hole in their lives”.
Charles Row, defending Warnock, said his client had expressed “genuine” remorse and written a note stating: “I would like to express my regret for my actions, it is something that will always haunt me.
“I wish with all my being I could take those minutes back, I would give my own life to have my daughter back.”
Sallie Bennett-Jenkins KC, defending Mrs Warnock, said: “She didn’t foresee the risk of death or serious harm to Miyah and at no time was she present when injuries were inflicted nor did she inflict injury.”