Dead baby has been found with sixty broken bones after the parents tried to blame paramedics.
Gatekeepers News reports that the couple; Naomi Johnson (23) and Benjamin O’Shea (26) were found guilty of physically abusing their eight-week-old girl Amina and of cruelty to another child.
The couple had called paramedics on April 26, 2019, after Amina stopped breathing and efforts to revive her proved abortive as she died at the scene in Southwark, central London.
Police explained that there were no observable injuries and the cause of her death was originally thought to be Sudden Unexplained Death in Infants.
However, a post mortem later revealed that Amina had suffered a catalogue of injuries with over 60 fractured bones, including 41 to her ribs and 24 limb bone fractures.
Johnson and O’Shea have since appeared at a four-week trial at Inner London Crown Court and are due to be sentenced on December 17.
In a bid to unravel the cause of Amina’s death, detectives from the Met’s Homicide and Serious Crime Command looked through texts exchanged between the couple. It was discovered that O’Shea boasted of his military service when he had actually been a reservist for a couple of years.
He had also made multiple calls to NHS 111 between 2016 and 2019 speaking about his self-diagnosed PTSD and aggression issues.
O’Shea reportedly told paramedics that he had taken Amina to a GP for a routine check-up on the day before her death. He also claimed he gave her paracetamol before putting her back to bed and called 999, an emergency telephone line, after finding her unresponsive 20 minutes later.
Although, the cause of Amina’s death could be established, but a criminal investigation was launched on May 3, 2019 due to the injuries she sustained.
The couple were arrested and claimed in police interviews that Amina’s death was due to the GP visit and the fractures caused by the paramedics.
Similary, the Police found texts between the couple where they admit to slapping and treating the second child poorly. The identity of the child was not revealed for legal reasons.
Detective Inspector Melanie Pressley, who led the investigation, said: “This is a truly heart-breaking case that has touched all of us who have worked on bringing Johnson and O’Shea before the court for their monstrous crimes.
“The cruelty and callousness with which the pair discussed the treatment of the other child, in this case, is shocking. Children depend on adults and the children, in this case, were sorely betrayed by Johnson and O’Shea in the most tragic of ways.
“In eight weeks of life, Amina suffered an unimaginable number of injuries. The trauma she endured in her short life is impossible to comprehend, her injuries are a catalogue of the most despicable abuse. Equally incomprehensible is how an adult can inflict such cruelty on defenceless, innocent children.
“Throughout our investigation, we have been unable to establish how the baby died and Johnson and O’Shea have been steadfast in their refusal to answer our questions.
“They have sought to protect themselves in a way they clearly did not for the two children in this case.’
DC Caroline Baker, part of the investigation team, added: “It is difficult to speak of justice in a case like this, however, I hope that today’s verdict is a clear message that these children mattered and the abuse they suffered will be punished.”
