A Gateshead father who left his baby permanently disabled after shaking him in a cocaine-fuelled rage has had his jail term increased by the Court of Appeal. Christopher Yates, 30, admitted causing a child to suffer serious physical harm and was jailed for four years at Newcastle Crown Court in July, but the Solicitor General referred the sentence as unduly lenient. On Thursday, judges increased the term to six years.
Shaking with force of a high-velocity car accident
Yates had consumed 11 pints of Foster's lager when he shook his seven-month-old son with the force of a "high velocity car accident", causing severe brain injury, blindness, and a likely inability to learn to walk. The incident occurred just three weeks after Yates gained custody of the baby, who had been taken from his mother into foster care.
Increasing the sentence, Lady Chief Justice Baroness Carr, sitting with Lord Justice Jeremy Baker and Mr Justice Wall, said: "The sentence imposed by the judge was not only lenient but unduly so."
Details of the incident and background
Gemma White, for the Solicitor General, said in written submissions that Yates shook the baby five times, yelling "shut the f*** up", at around 2am on October 5 last year, but did not contact the ambulance until 8.15am, claiming the child had fallen from his chair. The court heard that Yates gained custody three weeks before the incident despite his heavy drinking and "red flags" raised by his family.
Family members were concerned Yates, of Morris Road, Swalwell, was not being supported by professionals and became easily frustrated with the child, was not clothing him properly, and said his flat was a "mess" with dirty nappies and empty alcohol cans. When challenged about why he was drinking heavily when he worked so hard to get custody of the baby, Yates told a relative "I can do whatever I want", the court was told.
Victim impact and appeal arguments
Newcastle Crown Court had previously heard a victim impact statement from the child's foster mum, who he was with from birth and "melted our hearts". He is now back with them. She said: "We didn't know if he was going to survive but he is a little fighter. He has lost his sight now and he will be on medication for the rest of his life."
She added: "Christopher Yates has robbed this little boy of the life he should have had. He needed someone to look after him. He has broken his brain, he has broken his life, he has broken everyone's hearts. All he had to do was phone us and we would have been straight there. He is our family, we love him and he is back where he is safe. We hope, one day, his sight may return. We promise we will never give up on (him)."
Ms White told the court in London that the sentencing judge had not properly reflected the level of harm caused to the baby and had reduced the sentence too much to reflect Yates's ADHD, autism, depressive disorder and traumatic upbringing. She said: "There was very significant use of force against a six-month-old baby which resulted in catastrophic injury."
Rachel Hedworth, for Yates, said the sentencing judge had rightly reduced the sentence to reflect his mental disorder. She said Yates had discovered he was a father through a paternity test after the baby's birth but had "put himself in the ring" to be the sole carer of the baby. She said the baby was put in his sole care despite the fact he was "self-medicating" with alcohol during the assessment process and authorities being aware he had been doing this "for over half his life".
Ms Hedworth said that despite family highlighting these "red flags", he received "very little" assistance from professionals. She said: "Had his behaviour and his care of that child been monitored at a much earlier stage, then perhaps with some more advice and guidance he may have been helped."
