Man Who Brutally Punched Baby Leaving It Blind And Severely Disabled Gets Jail

A man has been jailed for attacking a child, leaving it blind in both eyes and severely disabled.

A UK court Friday sentenced Connor James Hume, now 22, to eight years and 10 months in prison for the crime, which happened when he was 18.

The child, whose identity was not revealed, was in Hume's care when the incident happened, reports The Northern Echo.

The trial began last month and the jury unanimously convicted him on charges of causing or allowing serious physical harm to a child. Hume denied the charges.

When the child was rushed to the hospital, doctors identified a bleed in the baby’s brain. Emergency surgery was carried out to relieve the pressure.

The infant spent several weeks in intensive care but the severe injuries sustained during the incident left him with cerebral palsy, blindness and inability to walk or talk, and requiring 24-hour care.

Sentencing him, Judge James Adkin said: "I’m sure that you lost your temper and struck them hard in the head and shook them vigorously. You caused a significant front right hematoma which damaged their brain irreparably which needed emergency surgery. You caused so many hemorrhages in both of their retinas that the doctors stopped counting and they very nearly died."

“A perfectly well baby is now blind in both eyes, has cerebral palsy due to brain damage, and requires constant 24-hour care,” he added.

The carer of the child told the court that the infant was robbed of its "healthy and care-free life."

"They went from a healthy baby with their whole life ahead of them to a child who faces constant daily struggles due to their severe physical and cognitive disabilities alongside complex needs. What saddens us the most is how isolated and dark their world is due to having no vision," the carer said in a heartbreaking victim impact statement.

In a similar incident, a child care worker in Delaware had pleaded guilty to murdering a 4-month-old baby by suffocation as she was pestered by the infant's persistent crying.

Dejoynay Ferguson of New Castle admitted to suffocating infant Isabella Talton to death in September 2019. She also admitted to eight abusive charges in addition to the murder charge. Video surveillance at the center had shown Ferguson grabbing the infant by her shirt and putting her on a changing table.