Leyland mum found guilty of murdering her baby daughter
Jennifer Crichton left 7 month old Amelia with "catastrophic head injuries"
Last updated 14th Feb 2018
A mum from Leyland has been found guilty of murdering her "helpless and vulnerable" baby daughter.
Jennifer Crichton, left her seven-month-old daughter Amelia with catastrophic'' head injuries, including bleeding on the brain, in her right eye and a fractured skull.
The 35 year old was allowed to keep seven-month-old daughter Amelia, under a social service care plan devised by Lancashire County Council and outsourced to a local social care provider.
Around 6pm on April 19 last year, a care support worker arrived at the mum's home.
Asked by her social worker to take over feeding of the baby Crichton replied: No, you do it,'' and went for a cigarette instead, a jury at Preston Crown Court heard.
Later that night the social worker left her alone with the child and within two hours she had attacked Amelia at the family home in Leyland, Lancashire.
Paramedics managed to resuscitate Amelia on her way to the Royal Preston Hospital, but she was then immediately transferred to the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital for specialist treatment.
Jennifer offered no explanation for her daughter's injuries, other than to say she had collapsed'', even as doctors battled to save her life.
Two days later, doctors concluded Amelia would not recover from her catastrophic'' brain injuries and further life support was withdrawn at 8.15pm on April 21 last year, with the child declared dead 20 minutes later.
Medical experts concluded she had been the subject of a striking or throwing'' against a hard surface, as well as bodily shaking.
A jury of nine men and three women, who heard five weeks of evidence, convicted her in under two hours on Tuesday morning.
She will be sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court on Wednesday 11th April.
The 35 year old faces a mandatory life sentence for murder, with the minimum term to be set after the judge hears the results of a psychiatric report on the defendant
The defendant had denied murder and tried to blame the child's father.
Detective Inspector Simon Cheyte, of Lancashire Constabulary’s Force Major Investigation Team, said: “I am satisfied with the conviction and I would like to thank the jury who returned their unanimous verdicts in under two hours of deliberation.
“The person who should not be forgotten in this is Amelia. She should have been able to look to her mother for the protection and love of a parent. Instead this defenceless child found herself subjected to horrendous abuse and the injuries which led to her death."