A British father has been sentenced for smashing the skull of his premature baby after increasingly rough behavior.
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Daniel Gunter, 27, was sentenced on October 3 to life in prison, per the BBC, after being found guilty of murdering his two-week-old son in the neonatal ward.
The man, who has no fixed address, was found guilty in July this year. He denied having hurt his son, Brendon Staddon, but witness statements made that difficult to believe.
Brendon Staddon was born prematurely at 33 weeks on February 20, 2024. Only two weeks later, in March, Brandon’s mother, Sophie Staddon, told the nurses that brandon was feeling “cold.”
The baby had “catastrophic” injuries from head to toe, per the Avon and Somerset Police. He had a shattered skull and multiple broken bones.
The doctors did what they could, but Brandon succumbed to his wounds. While doctors were trying to save the baby, both Gunter and Sophie went out for a smoke.
Sophie was tried for causing or allowing Brandon’s death, but she was acquitted in court.
Father Kept Being “Rough” With His Premature Baby Before Murder
In the trial, it was revealed that Gunter had to be told repeatedly to stop being rough with Brandon.
Gunter kept tickling, bothering, and poking Brandon, not allowing him to rest. On top of that, Gunter had no patience with Brandon and kept shouting at him.
Alarmingly, nurses noticed how strange Gunter was acting in the hours leading up to Brandon’s death. “By 3.30-3.40am, [the nurse] said Brendon was with Mr Gunter. She looked in and asked ‘is he alright?’ to which Gunter replied ‘yes, he’s alright’, but in a way that the nurse considered odd.”
“His reply did not seem natural to her. He seemed excited, his response was unusually animated, and he was nodding exaggeratedly. The nurse thought it was as if he didn’t want her to go over to him.”
Detective Chief Inspector Nadine Partridge said, “there wasn’t a part of his body which wasn’t bruised or broken.”
“To think someone could do such vicious things to an innocent child does break my heart.”