Childminder Guilty Of Baby's Death

A registered childminder has been jailed for three years after being found guilty of killing an eleven-month baby girl by violently shaking her in a fit of temper.

Keran Henderson, a 43-year-old mother-of-two from Iver Heath in Buckinghamshire, was had denied manslaughter, but was found guilty following a five-week trial at Reading Crown Court.

The court heard how Henderson had been hired in January 2005 to look after Maeve Sheppard by her parents, Ruth and Mark.

However, emergency services were called to Henderson's home in March that year and Maeve was rushed to hospital, suffering from brain injuries, where doctors fought to save her life.

However, the baby's condition deteriorated and her life support machine was turned off two days later.

Violent shaking was given as the only possible cause for Maeve's death, medical experts said.

They said that her neck ligaments were "over-extended", indicating that her neck had been snapped back and forth.

Henderson, a Beaver Scout leader who had seven years experience as a childminder, claimed that Maeve had suffered a seizure while she was changing her nappy, saying that the baby's body had stiffened and jerked back, before becoming floppy. She also said that the baby was gurgling as if something was stuck in her throat.

However, the jury rejected her version of events.

(KMcA)