MAN(23) JAILED JUST 3-YEARS FOR SHAKING HIS DAUGHTER TO DEATH BECAUSE SHE WOULDN'T STOP CRYING

KURT DELVES

A young father who shook his baby daughter to death when she wouldn’t stop crying has been jailed for three years.

Kurt Delves, 23, was sentenced today at Birmingham Crown Court for the unlawful killing of two-month-old Harli Reid on December 17 2010. The court heard how Delves, from Birmingham, West Midlands, had been Christmas shopping with Harli's mother Donnika Reid, 30, when he returned home alone with the child.

Delves became frustrated with his daughter when he bathed her before bed. When Harli would not stop crying Delves shook the child, causing her 'catastrophic' brain injuries.

BABY HARLI

The baby was taken to Birmingham Children’s Hospital, but died the following day. Devles originally tried to fabricate a cover story about Harli falling ill while in the bath. He said the child flinched and became floppy after he splashed water in her face. The man told police that he only shook the child lightly in an attempt to rouse her.

But detectives were able to prove through expert analysis that the baby had been shaken with sufficient force to cause her fatal brain injuries.Delves changed his plea to guilty to manslaughter on the second day of his trial.

Sentencing Delves, Mrs Justice Thirwall, said: 'Babies are vulnerable and defenceless, we all know that.

'They can often be noisy, they can often be demanding, but they are always vulnerable and defenceless.

'As you know, it is the duty of every parent to protect their tiny little baby. Harli was a very loved and very well looked after child.

'Her mother did most of the caring but it is true that you were keen to be involved and were involved, changing her nappies, giving her a bottle.

'I accept that you wanted to be a good father. But on December 17 2010 you didn’t protect Harli, on the contrary, you lost your temper and shook her repeatedly.

'For a short time, you shook her violently, it was clear this would cause her injury. As a result, she suffered brain damage from which she later died, she lost her life, a mother has lost a baby, and her grandparents, including your mother, have lost a grandchild.

'Her brother born to you and her mother in January 2012 will never know her.

'By your plea of guilty you accept you lost your temper and shook her in a way I have already described.

'I accept this was for a short time, but the injuries to her brain were catastrophic and there were injuries to her neck, which in any case with a nine-week-old child, was violent.'

Mrs Justice Thirwall sentenced Delves to three years and nine months in prison.

Defending, Tim Raggat said: 'This is a tragedy for all concerned from doctors reports, it shows that he is a very vulnerable man who will be very vulnerable in prison.'

Detective Constable Lyndsey Yates, who worked on the inquiry, said outside court: ‘Delves was said to be very hands-on with his baby and would often take the lead when bathing, feeding and changing nappies.‘But, in what appears to have been a momentary loss of control, he snapped and shook his daughter in frustration at being unable to stop her crying. ‘He caused fatal injuries - injuries he then tried to cover up by inventing a story about how she’d fallen ill whilst in the bath.

‘We were able to expose those lies and Delves was eventually left with little option but to admit his actions.’