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Stepmother Who Admitted Murder of Four-Year-Old to Be Sentenced to Life on Wednesday

A judge will also consider media bids to lift the anonymity order.

Overview

  • Mr Justice Paul McDermott at the Central Criminal Court is due to impose the mandatory life term and sentence the woman on two child-cruelty counts.
  • The defendant changed her plea to guilty after medical testimony showed the injuries were non-accidental and incompatible with a fall from a bunk bed.
  • Doctors and a pathologist detailed bruising across the child’s body, a broken rib, a torn liver and a catastrophic brain injury, and life support was withdrawn three days after admission.
  • Evidence outlined weeks of isolation and punishment, with CCTV capturing the woman’s repeated trips upstairs before she searched online about concussion.
  • The child’s father is serving a seven-year sentence for endangerment, child cruelty and assisting an offender.