The father of a 14-week-old baby who died with 31 fractures and three brain bleeds has been jailed for 14 years.
Christopher Easey, 31, claimed his daughter, 14-week-old Eleanor Easey, suffered her fatal injuries after he was forced to break sharply but police found no evidence of his claims.
Despite denying charges of murder, he was found guilty of manslaughter and child cruelty by a jury last month, after a 10-week trial at Norwich Crown Court.
Eleanor’s mother, Carly Easey, 36, was convicted of one count of child cruelty.
The court was told how Eleanor had suffered three separate bleeds to her brain and 31 fractures across her body at the time of her death.
After being found unresponsive at the couple’s home in Morton-on-the-Hill, near Norwich, the young tot was rushed to hospital.
At the hospital, a CT scan showed a severe head injury and recent bleeding between her skull and brain.
Despite being transferred to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, she tragically died on 20 December, 2019.
Doctors confirmed she had suffered from a “catastrophic” brain injury which experts said could have been caused by forceful shaking or an impact to the head.
Her injuries included a number of historical rib fractures and retinal haemorrhages, where there is bleeding in the eye.
She was also malnourished.
Police had already been told by people who knew the couple that Eleanor’s parents regularly left her home alone.
At sentencing at Norwich Crown Court on Friday, the prosecution told the court there was "precious little" any doctor could have done to save the young baby.
Easey was sentenced to 14 years in prison for manslaughter and child cruelty, while Carly Easey was given a community order for child cruelty.
Initially, both parents were charged with murder but after evidence showed Carly was not present at the time Eleanor suffered the fatal brain injury the murder charge against her was dropped.
In October, a few months before Eleanor's death, health visitors noticed bruising and scratches to Eleanor's face, which Carly said were due to an ill-fitting car seat and the scratches were self-inflicted.
The couple's friends, colleagues and family members told detectives her parents fed Eleanor custard cream biscuits and lemon cheesecake, gave her squash to drink and left her at home alone.
Detective Inspector Lewis Craske, who led the investigation on behalf of the Norfolk and Suffolk major investigation team, said: "My thoughts today, as they have been throughout this investigation and will always be, are with little Eleanor.
"She was only 14 weeks old when she died yet had 31 fractures to her fragile body and three separate bleeds on her brain.
"Eleanor's parents, the very people who should have protected and loved her above everything and everyone else, failed her on an unimaginable scale from the moment she was born.
"She was neglected for much, if not all, of her short life. She deserved so much better.
"This has been a desperately sad, incredibly complex and highly emotive investigation for me and all those who have worked so very hard on bringing this case to court."
