Mother who killed her baby jailed

A mother found guilty of killing her three-month-old baby has been jailed for five years.

Joseph Kompus died from serious head injuries at his home in east London, in September 2007.

His mother Maria Kompusova, 22, of Hoe Street, Walthamstow, was found guilty of manslaughter in December, but was cleared of murder.

Judge Richard Hawkins told Kompusova, at the Old Bailey, that the details of what she did to her son are unknown.

"It is not known from the evidence what you did," Judge Hawkins told Kompusova in passing sentence.

Case review

Joseph had five earlier fractures but it could not be proven who had caused them.

The judge added: "The Crown's case against you as far as manslaughter is concerned was that it was one traumatic incident."

He said he had taken into account Kompusova had been a good mother to an older child.

Slovakian Kompusova had tried to blame her partner, Joseph Skripka, 23, for the injuries that killed Joseph.

The court was told the couple had come to Britain to better their lives.

Det Ch Insp Graham Grant, of the Child Abuse Investigation Command, said: "We do not know exactly what happened on the day of the child's death, as his mother has offered us no explanation as to how he sustained his injuries."

Joseph, who was born prematurely, was never referred to social services but was seen by health workers during his short life.

A serious case review by Waltham Forest borough after the death found there was a lack of communication between health teams and other agencies.

It said: "There is a lack of systematic collection of information, analysis and recommendation. Expected standards were not met."