Jail for father after shaken daughter dies

The father of a girl who died seven years after he violently shook her as a baby has been jailed for two years.

Paul Slattery injured eight-week-old Caitlin Wetton, from Cheslyn Hay, so badly that she was left paralysed from the neck down, blind, unable to speak and with severe cerebral palsy.

The shaking episode lasted for up to 10 minutes when she was left in his care for an hour at the family home in Glenthorne Drive in November 2002. Until then she had been in good health and lovingly cared for by her mother Michele Wetton, Birmingham Crown Court heard.

Slattery, aged 32, initially denied shaking Caitlin, claiming he had thrown her into the air in play. Later he said he had "waggled" her from side to side, rolling her body on his arms. Eventually he told police: "Her head was everywhere. To be honest, I could have gone over the top and thought I'd better calm down because I didn't want to hurt her."

Her injuries became apparent when she was admitted to Walsall Manor Hospital as an emergency later that day with a burn to her scalp caused, Slattery alleged, by being placed too closed to a gas fire as she was cold and clammy.

Gareth Walters, prosecuting, said: "The reason for the clamminess was almost certainly the catastrophic brain damage that was developing."

Caitlin began twitching and having fits and was transferred to Birmingham Children's Hospital where doctors found bleeding on her brain. Her condition deteriorated and she was given the last rites but kept breathing unaided.

Slattery served 30 months in jail for grievous bodily harm on the basis he had not intended to cause really serious injury. After Caitlin's death in 2010, he was re-arrested in Scotland, and charged with manslaughter. He pleaded guilty.

Nicholas Tatlow, defending, described Slattery as immature and emotionally detached.

The court heard that Michele Wetton had taken on much of the burden of looking after Caitlin. Mr Walters said: "The relentless level of care she showed was quite extraordinary."

Mrs Justice Thirlwall said the sentence reflected Slattery's remorse and previous imprisonment.