Mother who killed her own baby by throwing him to the ground walks free

A mum who killed her six-month-old baby by shaking him and throwing him to the ground causing devastating brain injuries has walked free from court.

Martina McHattie, 26, described as a perfect mum, lost her temper with horrific consequences after baby Reece wouldn't stop crying because he was teething.

A court heard the stress caused her to shake the infant and throw him against a hard object, fracturing his skull.  

Reece died from his injuries four days later in October 2004.

Police investigated the incident after doctors suspected Reece was not the victim of an accidental fall as McHattie had claimed. However there was insufficient evidence to prosecute.

The harrowing incident at her home in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, only came to the fore two years later when she admitted that she had caused Reece's death because she was unable to cope.

But McHattie, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter, was handed just a 12-month suspended prison sentence after a judge was told she had tried to commit suicide and had self-harmed in the years since the death.

She was sentenced on May 23 this year but the tragic crime could only be reported today as she had another legal matter pending.

Martina Connolly, prosecuting at Leeds Crown Court in May, said that McHattie got pregnant after starting a relationship with a work colleague but he had left her after she refused to have an abortion.

Reece was born in April 2004 and the court heard McHattie had little help with him as her mother had died and her father lived abroad.

But Reece was deemed to be a well-cared for baby.

Ms Connolly said: 'Some time in the late afternoon on October 21, she picked up her son Reece, shook him and then threw him onto a hard object, causing his death some days later at hospital.'

Paramedics were called and defenceless Reece was found to be limp, pale, unresponsive and his lips were turning blue.

He was taken to Pinderfields Hospital but had to be transferred to paediatric intensive care at Leeds General Infirmary as his condition was so grave.

Reece was examined by a neurologist and found to have brain swelling, a haemorrhage and bleeding to the eyes consistent with a shaken baby.

Just two days before his death, McHattie took an overdose of paracetamol while at hospital and had to be whisked to casualty.

She told nurses she had taken five packets of tablets and would have taken more, said Ms Connolly.

'She said she wanted to end things because she knew  that Reece was going to die.'

Reece died on October 25 after police had been called in.

McHattie said her son had fallen 15 inches from the sofa to the floor while she was running a bath, but a post-mortem concluded that this was inconsistent with his severe head  injury.

Defending, Michael Harrison QC said: 'On a daily basis, this mum was taking superlative care of her baby.

'It is therefore astonishing to find that in one  catastrophic moment she gave way to the stresses that had built up in the days  and hours before.

'In the last two weeks he was teething and she was getting flustered because she couldn't soothe him.

'What went on in her mind was a feeling of inadequacy and so in that moment she brought everything crashing down around her and ended her baby's life.'

Recorder of Leeds Judge Peter Collier took pity on McHattie and suspended her sentence for two years with a supervision order.

He said: 'The bottom line is that Reece died at your hands. You momentarily  lost control, you injured him and from those injuries he subsequently died.

'I am satisfied you will live with the knowledge and guilt every day of your  life and I also know it's very unlikely you will be able to bring up a child of  your own.'

Today she was handed a 26-week prison sentence suspended for a  year after she admitted sexual activity with a child following an incident with a 14-year-old boy in July last year.