A mother who covered for her sadistic boyfriend after he beat their baby son to death walked free from court today after one of Britain's most senior judges accepted she was suffering from 'battered women syndrome.'
Chantelle Flynn, 25, hatched a callous plan with Craig Dawick to lie to police and doctors after he gave eight-month-old Leyton Flynn a fatal beating for 'crying too much'.
Despite being out on a 40-minute errand at the time of the attack, Flynn falsely claimed she had been cuddling her son on the sofa when he started sweating, went pale and 'made a funny noise'.
She also insisted Dawick was a 'brilliant father' and said any injuries caused to the child were 'accidental.'
Flynn broke down and sobbed in the dock at Manchester Crown Court as she was convicted of causing or allowing the death of a child and perverting the course of justice and was handed a suspended sentence.
It emerged Dawick, also 25, had previously been violent during the couple's relationship but she took him back sending him texts saying he was 'beautiful' and adding: '"I love you darling, I really do" followed by eight kisses.
Just days after the pair got back together following another bust up, Dawick was left alone with Leyton and when the child screamed and sobbed due to teething and acid reflux, Dawick shouted: 'shut the 'f***' up ' at the youngster before leaving him with injuries 'consistent with being kicked or punched'. He then rang Flynn for help.
She broke down and sobbed as the judge Mr Justice John Royce branded Dawick the 'real villain' and said Flynn was 'completely under his sway.'
Dawick himself was jailed for life with a minimum 21 years after he found guilty of murder in September.
Imposing two years jail suspended for 24 months the judge told Flynn: 'Part of your life for the last ten years have been extremely turbulent.
'It seems you would sometimes say you hated Craig Dawick and wanted nothing to do with him and then not long after you you send a text saying how much you loved him.
'It became a pattern of you telling him to leave then having him back. You couldn't live with him and you couldn't bear to live without him.
'He told you lies to conceal what he has done but when paramedics arrived you told them you had been cuddling him on the sofa when Leyton went pale and started making a funny noise. You said that once you started that you didn't feel you could correct it.
'Your deceit continued until you were interviewed and you told them it was Craig who was looking after Leyton at the relevant time.
'It is important to refer to the psychological report which concluded that the abuse you suffered in childhood was likely to have impacted your ability to deal with Craig Dawick.
'You were especially vulnerable and it is a concern that you suffered from battered woman syndrome.
'The report concluded you had extremely low self esteem and your low self esteem keeps women in a perpetuating cycle of violence. You were more susceptible to being controlled and bullied by Craig Dawick.
'I have no shadow of a doubt about you being dominated, controlled and intimidated by Dawick and you had the feeling that somehow his abuse of you was your fault when it was certainly not.
'Your deceit lasted hours not days or months and the real burden in this tragedy was Dawick. You were completely under his sway.'
He added: 'The psychological evidence about your conditions is extremely powerful if not unique.
'Sending you to prison would run the risk of negating the fact that you are making a real effort to live a constructive life. I do not consider you a danger and it is quite clear you bitterly regret this tragedy.'
Her lawyer Nick Johnson QC said in mitigation: 'She was in a very very difficult position at the time.
'She clearly does feel a sense of responsibility and she has been substantially punished already.'