Life sentence for baby murder dad
Richard Barnes
A FATHER has been given a life sentence for killing his eight-week-old daughter by crushing her skull.
Richard Barnes, 27, of Crowther Street, Castleford, was found guilty at Leeds Crown Court today of murdering Grace Mya Barnes.
The jury of six men and six women took just two hours to unanimously convict Barnes, who will serve a minimum of 13 years in prison.
Sentencing him, Mr Justice Cooke, said: “You had more than enough to drink which must have affected you. You were a good parent with no prior history of harming your child - to the contrary, you were a good and loving father to her.
“But you must have intended serious harm if only for a second or two of blind rage. It was a spontaneous act and not a premeditated action.
“When you realised what you had done you were suicidal though you sought to protect yourself by not telling the truth.
“There’s no doubt that you will be remorseful for the rest of your life.”
During a week long trial jurors heard how Barnes had drunk at least seven miniatures of spirits and a can of lager on the afternoon of November 19.
He was alone with his daughter for just 20 minutes when he carried out the attack which doctors said shattered almost every bone in her skull.
See next week’s Express for the full story.
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Weather for Wakefield
Sunday 19 May 2013
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 10 C to 17 C
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