A young mother who shook her baby daughter so violently she was left permanently disabled, blind and brain-damaged has been jailed for two and half years
Social workers today faced criticism after claims Charlotte Wild, then 18, was 'badly let down' by healthcare professionals in the run up to the tragedy.
A health worker had visited the teenager three times but her daughter Cassie had been asleep and there were no apparent problems.
Cassie was just three months old when she was admitted to hospital in June 2007 with healing fractures on all four of her limbs and ribs, consistent with 'gripping and twisting' and a bleed to her brain.
She appeared 'grey, waxy and lifeless' and was rushed to intensive care with 'life-threatening injuries'.
Cassie has been left brain-damaged, blind and will require full-time care for the rest of her life.
A psychiatrist who later treated Wild, now 20, said it was 'almost inevitable' that she 'would at some point be unable to cope and would lose control'.
She was said to have been too young to have children and suffered physical abuse at the hands of a violent boyfriend who would not support her.
She admitted wounding with intent and cruelty to a child.
Cassie and Wild's other child - a boy - have been taken into care.
Judge Jonathan Foster told Wild: 'This is a tragic case. Your daughter suffered severe brain damage. She is effectively blind, and unable to control her bodily movements.
'She will never be capable of independent living. She may have survived but the quality of her life has been destroyed.
'You looked after her for about a month and you were then only 18 years of age. You appear before me looking younger than that, and frightened and confused.
'I accept that there are a variety of factors which explain what happened. You were too young to have children. She was in fact your second child, you had an unsupportive and violent partner.
'Much-needed support was not forthcoming, you were probably too young and too afraid to seek the necessary support from your family and social services.
'Whilst nobody can be unsympathetic, the court must also remember the devastating consequences of what happened.'
'She appeared to be grey, waxy and lifeless and she had a fast heart rate. There was increased pressure inside her head. She was taken to intensive treatment and then to the high dependency unit. She had respiratory arrest, her breathing had stopped and her heart was still beating.
'X-rays and a CT scan showed fractures to both her arms, legs and ribs, and some bleeding to the back of her skull.
'Her injuries were considered life-threatening at the time.'
The girl was transferred to Pendlebury Children's Hospital where the CT scans and X-rays showed injuries caused just 48 hours earlier were consistent with shaking.
Cassie had suffered injuries on at least three separate occasions.
Wild initially denied any wrongdoing but made a full confession in August 2008.
The court heard that it is unlikely Wild will ever be allowed to look after children in the future.
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