Wiltshire man pleads guilty to manslaughter of three-month-old daughter
The girl's mother has also admitted child cruelty at Winchester Crown Court - following the incident in 2021
A dad from Devizes has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of his three-month-old baby daughter in 2021.
29-year-old Samuel Warnock, formally of Cornfield Road, admitted to being responsible for the death of his daughter Miyah at Winchester Crown Court today (January 16).
His plea came as he was set to stand trial charged with the child's murder.
28-year-old Jasmine, who's Miyah's mum, and also of Cornfield Road, admitted child cruelty in the case, pleading guilty to Section 1 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933, which is cruelty to persons under sixteen.
Back on September 20th, 2021, the emergency services were rushed out to their address over what's described as 'medical concerns' regarding their three-month-old baby, who was rushed to Bristol Children's Hospital.
Miyah later died less than a month later, on 19th October 2021.
Caroline Carberry KC, prosecuting, said that the pleas made to the court today were acceptable following consultation with the chief crown prosecutor and the baby's maternal grandparents.
She said that Mr Warnock faced up to 16 years in prison for the offence of manslaughter while Mrs Warnock faced a sentence of up to two years - with alternative charges to lie on file.
Sallie Bennett-Jenkins KC, representing Mrs Warnock, said that her client entered her guilty plea on the basis that she did not witness any assault on Miyah.
She said: "Jasmine Warnock did not foresee the risk of death or any serious injury to Miyah from the actions of Sam Warnock.
"Jasmine Warnock at no time inflicted injury on Miyah and was not present when injury was inflicted.
"Jasmine Warnock was not present on 20th September when injuries leading to death were inflicted."
She added that Mrs Warnock raised the issue of bruising suffered by Miyah which Mr Warnock told her had happened because he had a "loss of sensitivity in his hands" which affected how he handled the baby.
He also told her that he had fallen down the stairs while carrying Miyah after his "knee had given way".
Ms Bennett-Jenkins said: "Jasmine Warnock accepted these explanations without pressing further."
She added that Mrs Warnock had raised the issue of Mr Warnock's handling of Miyah but she accepted that she had not taken further steps to prevent it from happening.
She said that Mrs Warnock was not present when Miyah first collapsed on September 18 but saw her subsequently and was recorded on a 999 call saying the child "could not breathe properly, her eyes were rolling backwards and she was going limp."
Ms Bennett-Jenkins said that Mrs Warnock accepted that she did not investigate the cause of the collapse and allowed Mr Warnock to have sole care of Miyah on the following days before her death.
Both Samuel and Jasmine Warnock will be sentenced on March 18 at Winchester Crown Court.
The judge, Mrs Justice May, ordered pre-sentence reports to be prepared by the probation service on both defendants and asked for the "dangerousness" of Mr Warnock to be addressed in the evaluation.