A postman who brutally battered his girlfriend's toddler to death after months of abusing the youngster has been sentenced to nine years behind bars. Little Andrew Cawker was only 18 months old when he passed away in hospital from a head injury after Scott Coombe grabbed him and threw him down to the floor.
Coombe, 24, left the tot with bruises and scars all over his body after the child suffered months of abuse which his mother Tamika Beaton chose to ignore. Andrew passed away in King's College Hospital in London, 13 days after he had suffered the head injury on July 9, 2019, the Mirror reports.
The court heard Coombe, of Kent, blamed Andrew for being 'irritating' and also falsely accused the boy's biological father of abusing his son. Andrew's father had taken him to the doctors to get tested as he thought he was maybe prone to bruising while his 25-year-old mother cast a blind eye to the abuse and the 'unexplained injuries' her son received.
Yesterday, the negligent mother was convicted of child cruelty but spared jail time by a judge, despite refusing to explain what had happened. In January last year, Coombe admitted to killing Andrew and was sentenced on January 6 2023 to nine years behind bars for manslaughter and child cruelty.
Beaton denied child cruelty between January 7 and July 9, 2019, but was found guilty and was sentenced to 12 months in prison suspended for 18 months. The Recorder of London, Judge Mark Lucraft said: "It would seem he [Coombe] tried to blame the biological father as well as the child himself for their injuries.
"There can be nothing worse for a natural father to be blamed for causing injuries to your own child." The judge told Coombe: "Until your plea of guilty you had sought to put the blame on others, including Andrew and his father.
"It appears to me that putting blame on others is the main aggravating feature of this case." Paul Mendelle, representing Coombe, told the court how he struggled to cope with the level of care that Andrew required as he was a "boisterous child with high levels of energy and highly demanding".
He added: "He very much cared for Andrew and looked after him. There is not a parent in the land who hasn't experienced moments of anger.
"He is a deeply religious young man and he even talks of Andrew still being alive, but not in this world." Coombe contacted the emergency services on July 9, telling the operator: "It's my one-and-a-half-year-old stepson.
"He was just playing then he started looking a bit stiff and then he collapsed in front of me and he's not woken up for 10 to 15 minutes." Sally O'Neill, prosecuting, said: "This was a lie. Scott Coombe has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
"He has done so on the basis that he became irritated with him and picked him up by grabbing his upper arms and in a moment of anger and frustration, shook him vigorously backwards and forwards briefly and then threw him backwards. Andrew's shoulder area hit the floor and his head fell back and bounced as it hit the floor.
"Andrew immediately became unconscious and Scott Coombe tried to revive him, was unable to do so, which was when he called 999."
Coombe also pleaded guilty to child cruelty in relation to physically abusing Andrew on multiple occasions between January 7 and July 9 2019. The prosecutor said: "It was apparent to Tamika Beaton that Andrew was receiving unexplained injuries whilst in Scott Coombe's care.
"She and Andrew's father, Ben Cawker, who saw him regularly, took photos of the injuries and even on one occasion, took him to the doctors for his blood to be tested in case he was prone to easy bruising. He wasn't.
"His bruises were as a result of being assaulted by Scott Coombe and it must have been obvious to Tamika Beaton that it was Scott Coombe who was doing it. Not only did she do nothing to protect Andrew from being injured by Scott Coombe, she tried to cover up the injuries by blaming Ben Cawker, his father, for causing them.
"There are many texts in this case which the Crown say illustrate her knowledge of what was going on and her deliberate refusal to tell Social Services about it because she knew that if she did, the result would be that either Scott Coombe would have to leave the home or Andrew would be taken into care."
Beaton fell pregnant with Andrew in 2017 after a long term relationship with his father Ben Cawker who she met in 2014 when she was 16. She moved into a studio flat in Peckham, South London when Andrew was four months old and Mr Cawker was continuing to visit her but their relationship was 'beginning to go wrong'.
Beaton met Coombe at a fitness class in May 2018. Mr Cawker admitted that he had also not contacted social services before Andrew's death.
He said: "In my head, to that day I thought things were better, and out of the blue my son passed, so it was a huge shock to me." Detective Sergeant Quinn Cutler, a homicide detective, led the investigation and said: “This is an utterly heart-breaking case where a defenceless child has sustained prolonged abuse at the hands of those who should have been caring for him, resulting in his death.
“Andrew should have been in the place where he felt safe; at home with his mother and her partner. However, over the course of a year, Andrew suffered regular assaults at the hands of Scott Coombe culminating in the attack on 9 July 2019 which proved to be fatal.
“His mother, Tamika Beaton, clearly suspected Coombe was responsible for these injuries but chose not to intervene or seek help. Indeed, when questioned by police she sought to place the blame on another man.
"While Beaton did not directly inflict injuries on her son, her inaction most certainly played a part in his death.”
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