A teacher left a 43-day-old baby's brain damaged by shaking

Jonathan Sinfield admitted charges of causing grievous bodily harm and assault, occasioning actual bodily harm.

Jonathan Sinfield

A babysitter who admitted shaking a 43-day-old baby, leaving the tot brain-damaged, has been jailed. Teacher Jonathan Sinfield was caring for the baby when the incident occurred in Bath, Bristol Crown Court heard.

Initially, he reported that the child became ill and knocked its head against a sofa. He later claimed he had dropped the tot from around a metre.

Due to the baby's injuries, though, medical experts diagnosed the baby had been gripped forcefully and shaken. Sinfield, 30, whose address was given as Cradley in Herefordshire, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. The court heard his career as a teacher was finished.

Judge William Hart jailed him for three years - giving Sinfield a 25% discount on the five-year maximum jail term for guilty pleas. He told Sinfield: "I cannot ignore the delay in informing the hospital of the mechanism of the baby's injury.

"They took many hours to diagnose what happened. If you dared to come clean, things could have been different."

Richard Posner, prosecuting, said medical experts concurred the baby sustained bleeding behind its eyes and brain damage due to violent shaking. Sinfield initially told police he may have been heavy-handed with the child before the child fell to the floor.

The court heard the child suffered brain damage, mobility, sight impairment, and bruising due to the assault. His future medical condition stays uncertain.

Barry White said his client's guilty plea showed his acceptance of what he did and his regret for doing it. Mr White said it was not easy for Sinfield to admit to harming the baby.

He told the court the incident was a short-lived loss of control, not pre-meditated. He said that the second lockdown was looming at the time, and his client was suffering stress at work and was run down and unwell.

Mr White told the court: "For a short number of seconds, he lost his cool. Without intending to, he caused real and grave damage to many lives."

Detective Constable Mark Wilkes said: "I'd like to praise the victim's family for their patience and courage throughout what has undoubtedly been a difficult and painful investigation for them. This unfortunate incident has been made worse by the web of lies spun by Jonathan Sinfield.

"Doctors and nurses did an incredible job caring for the victim, but Sinfield's failure to tell them an honest account of what happened made their task all the harder and exemplified his selfish attitude.

"At no stage has he shown any remorse. He refused to admit to causing horrific harm to a defenceless baby until police confronted him with overwhelming evidence that meant it was in his interest to plead guilty.

"No sentence will ever be enough to fully reflect the lifelong harm Sinfield caused the victim and their family, but we welcome the judge's decision to impose a custodial term. Sinfield must learn to live the rest of his life knowing what he did to an innocent child."