Man jailed for murdering girlfriend's 12 month old baby girl in Radcliffe
Jamie Chadwick will serve a minimum of 18 years for killing Orianna Crilly-Cifrova last October
A man from Radcliffe's been jailed for at least 18 years for the murder of a one-year-old girl who was left in his care.
At the time of the death, Jamie Chadwick, 22, was being investigated by police on suspicion of causing serious injuries to another child, a six-month-old boy, more than a year earlier and had been told not to have unsupervised contact with children.
Sentencing him at Manchester Crown Court to a life term, Mrs Justice Yip said "as a matter of common sense'' his murder conviction "strengthens the suspicions'' that he was also responsible for inflicting the injuries on the younger child, referred to as Baby T, in July 2018.
In early 2019, Chadwick began a new relationship with Chelsea Crilly, mother of Orianna Crilly-Cifrova, and they later moved in together to live with the defendant's sister at her flat in Radcliffe, Greater Manchester.
Miss Crilly, who was cleared on Monday of allowing the death of a child, accepted that she lied to social workers, a healthcare visitor, police officers and doctors about seeing Chadwick with Orianna.
Chadwick - who is not Orianna's father - also played his part in the prolonged deception by telling his probation officer that he had no contact with the youngster, and on one occasion hid under a bed when social workers visited Miss Crilly at the address in Cross Lane.
On October 16 last year, police were called by medical professionals after one-year-old Orianna Crilly-Cifrova was taken to hospital with severe head injuries. Orianna sadly died from her injuries the next day.
Chadwick initially claimed that Orianna had fallen down two steps and banged her head on the floor.
The trial heard Jamie Chadwick caused injuries to baby Orianna Crilly-Cifrova that were of a similar force to a high-speed car crash.
Duncan Thorpe, Senior Investigating Officer of GMP’s Major incident Support Unit, said: “This is a heart breaking case in which an innocent baby was murdered by a man who should have cared for her and our thoughts are with the family at this incredibly distressing time.
“Little Orianna was found to have extremely severe head injuries, and the explanation given by Chadwick as to how she received these injuries was not compatible with the evidence.
"It's absolutely horrific that anyone could inflict such an attack on an innocent baby but Orianna will never be forgotten. I am confident that today we have managed to secure her some justice and Orianna will certainly not be forgotten by our investigation team."