A man who murdered his partner’s 12-week-old baby by striking his head against a hard surface has been sentenced to life in prison.
Kane Mitchell, 31, must serve a minimum term of 18 years after killing Teddie Mitchell while the child’s mum Lucci Smith, 29, was out on a school run in St Neots, Cambridgeshire.
The infant was left with brain, spinal, and eye injuries and fractures to his skull, ribs, and collar bone after the violent attack on November 1, 2019. He died in hospital 10 days later.
Judge Mr. Justice Knowles told Cambridge Crown Court Mitchell had fractured two of Teddie’s ribs and his collar bone on a previous occasion.
He said he believes Mitchell did not intend to kill the baby but had meant ‘really serious harm’ as a result of his ‘sudden temper and frustration with Teddie’.
Matthew Jewell QC, mitigating for Mitchell, said his ‘spontaneous loss of temper’ may have been in response to the child’s cries, he said.
Mitchell was sentenced to life on Friday after he was found guilty of murder and of causing or allowing serious harm to a child.
