Baby-killing dad sent to prison for 13 years
Thursday 20 September 2012
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EmailA man who murdered his eight-week-old daughter was jailed today for at least 13 years.
Richard Barnes was left in charge of baby Grace for just 20 minutes last November.
He had secretly drunk whisky and vodka beforehand, and after he'd crushed her skull went out for more booze instead of calling an ambulance.
Grace died four days later. Police officers called the case "a tragedy."
Prosecutors told his trial it was still unclear how and why the Haribo sweets machine operator crushed Grace's skull at the family home in Castleford, West Yorkshire.
A pathologist said that Barnes either kicked or stamped on the back of her head, or he may have crushed her skull by pressing it against a hard surface such as the floor.
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