Man jailed for killing baby girl

The court heard Gareth Harries could not stop baby Chloe crying

An RAF technician who shook his baby daughter to death has been jailed for six years and eight months.

Gareth Harries, 25, attacked Chloe, who was eight months old, at the family home in 2006 after he "simply couldn't get her to stop crying".

The Iraq veteran originally blamed his servicewoman wife Hayley for the death in Lossiemouth, Moray. He later admitted culpable homicide.

After the sentence, his estranged wife said: "He should have got double that."

She explained: "It is not good enough. He is the only one who will ever really know what happened. I would never have gone out and left her with him if I thought he would have done it.

"People were blaming me right, left and centre. I even started to think that maybe I had done it. It is just guilt that gets you."

Advertisement

Hayley Harries criticises the sentence given to her husband

At the High Court in Edinburgh, judge Lady Dorrian told Harries, from Pembrokeshire: "You have pled guilty to the culpable homicide of your baby daughter by shaking.

"It is clear from the medical evidence that significant force must have been used to cause the child's death, and this is a factor I must take into account in proceeding to sentence you, namely that you used such force on a helpless baby.

"The consequences of that will be with you for the rest of your life."

The judge went on: "I recognise that by pleading you have spared the need for your wife to give evidence which would clearly have been traumatic for her.

"However, it reflects very sadly on you that you waited until this stage to do so and even worse that you previously maintained a defence of incrimination, blaming your wife for the death of her own child, which must have made the traumatic effect of the child's death even worse for her.

Chloe Harries suffered 'terrible injuries' as a result

"However, I take into account that you have expressed deep and genuine remorse, that you had no intent to harm the child you loved, that you have hitherto had an unblemished record and that you are assessed at the lowest level of risk for re-offending."

The attack happened at their service house in Lossiemouth's MacDonald Drive on 24 November, 2006.

Harries, of Milford Haven, admitted assaulting Chloe by seizing her by the body, repeatedly shaking her and killing her.

Harries and his wife Hayley, 21, who also serves with the RAF, had moved to Lossiemouth a month earlier from RAF Odiham, in Hampshire, following domestic difficulties.

On the day of the attack, first offender Harries had picked the baby up from a childminder where she had been happy and contented.

Mrs Harries went out to see friends, but later the ambulance service received a report from her husband that his daughter was unconscious and was not breathing.

Chloe was placed on a ventilator in hospital, then transferred to the Royal Sick Children's Hospital in Edinburgh.

SENTENCING STATEMENT HMA v Gareth Harries [28KB] Most computers will open this document automatically, but you may need Adobe Reader Download the reader here

The child's brain was swollen and there was little or no oxygen supply getting through. Later, after consultation with the parents, it was decided to withdraw life support.

An expert said the fatal injury was probably caused by the baby being shaken, resulting in whiplash and rotational movement.

Defence counsel David Moggach said: "This is a very tragic case. It is no exaggeration to say that everyone connected or related to Mr Harries and his estranged wife must be devastated by what happened. He certainly is.

"He now does accept full responsibility and there is no-one else to blame but himself. He will have to live with the constant reminder that he killed his child.

"He has lost so much - his daughter, his marriage and his career. He now presents as a sad and lonely man."

Grampian Police Det Insp Matt Mackay said: "I am satisfied that justice has been done for Chloe's mother and other members of her family, who continue to be in our thoughts.

"This was a deeply disturbing and tragic crime perpetrated by a highly manipulative person who was prepared to lie to cover up his actions.

"He alone was responsible for the terrible injuries suffered by Chloe."