Three years jail for baby killer

A babysitter who killed a one-month-old boy by slamming him against a bed and shaking him because he was crying has been jailed for three years.

John Jeacock was minding Harvey Jackson on 26 March, 2006, as the baby's mother, Maxine McInerney, enjoyed a spa day, the Old Bailey heard.

The 24-year-old of Beachwood Gardens, Rainham, Essex, admitted manslaughter.

Ms McInerney said Jeacock, who had been going out with her sister at the time, had betrayed her.

Zoe Johnson, prosecuting, told the court Jeacock caused the baby's death "in a sudden loss of temper" that left the victim struggling to breathe and bruised on the brain.

Paramedics found the baby "deathly white and gasping for air" when they arrived at the baby's home in Harold Hill, Essex.

The child died four days later in hospital when his life support machine was turned off.

It is inevitable that any sentence will be regarded by the family as grossly inadequate to reflect the young life that has been lost Judge Gerald Gordon

Jeacock initially claimed the baby had fallen off the bed but changed his plea after tests showed such an accident could not have caused such severe injuries.

Judge Gerald Gordon told him: "However unintentional your actions were, the fact is that you have devastated almost certainly permanently each of Harvey's parents, and their families."

He added: "It is inevitable that any sentence will be regarded by the family as grossly inadequate to reflect the young life that has been lost."

Jeacock was told he would serve half of his three year sentence, minus 101 days already served, and was also disqualified from working with children for life.

As he was taken down a relative of the baby shouted out: "Justice for who?"

Asked about the sentence outside the court, the baby's father Darren Jackson, said: "It is unacceptable. He has ruined mine and my family's life."