A twisted thug left a helpless baby severely disabled after inflicting an appalling abuse campaign onto them.
Evil Tom Kember from Somerset was caged for 21 years after being found guilty of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm. The brutal attack resulted in injuries similar to those seen in high-speed traffic collisions or from falls from one storey height, the court heard.
The 27-year-old’s “spineless” partner Katherine Reilly failed to report the baby’s injuries, and was sentenced to a six-month jail term suspended for two years, having been found guilty of child cruelty, reports the Mirror.
Handing down sentencing at Bristol Crown Court, Judge Julian Lambert told the depraved abuser: “The victim of your crime was extremely vulnerable at only eight weeks old, after a premature birth. The consequences where utterly catastrophic, traumatic brain injury.
“You have robbed a child of most quality of life. This was an attack of monstrous evil with the worst possible consequences. You show no remorse. This was an extreme explosive rage, exerting forces far beyond rough handling and similar to the force of a car crash, or a fall from a height.”
Addressing a remorseless Reilly, the judge said there was believed to be an 80-minute period between Kember inflicting the injuries and contacting 111. Her actions in not seeking medical attention during that time were “wicked and spineless”, with medical evidence stating that any delay could have increased the harm to the baby.
Both Kember and Reilly, who remain in a “committed relationship”, denied the charges during their trial, but grim internet searches show how they tried to get away with the catastrophic injuries Kember had inflicted on the baby girl.
Bristol Crown Court heard that the baby, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, had been born prematurely in 2019. The tragic tot was discharged from the hospital in January 2020 and, just 10 days later, was found to be unresponsive after an ambulance was called to an address in Taunton.
During a five-week trial, jurors heard how, on January 12, 2020, Kember made a number of online searches, including the following terms: “what happens if u (sic) hit a baby’s face” and “can a baby be sick if it gets hit”. The following day, at 10:45pm, while eating out at a McDonald’s restaurant with Reilly and the baby, Kember searched online for terms such as “if baby hits its head, does the baby sleep a lot?”.
It is believed that, by this point, the eight-week-old baby had sustained injuries at the hands of Kember and that he committed a further assault after they left the restaurant at approximately 11.17 pm. At 6.10 am that day, Kember had made yet more internet searches, this time asking: “Can I get dosent for abiseing (sic) … baby”[sic]. The prosecution’s case was that this was a mistyped search for “Can I get done for abusing baby.”
Kember did not call 111 until about 1.20am on January 14, at which point he reported that the infant was unresponsive. Paramedics at the scene noticed that the baby had facial bruising and raised their concerns with staff at Musgrove Park Hospital.
It was then that the local force were alerted. The infant, whose condition is both life-long and life-limiting, is registered blind, non-verbal, and suffers multiple daily seizures on top of having other complex needs. The now five-year-old has been adopted by a foster family, who have cared for the tot since they were four months old.
In a heartbreaking statement, the child’s adoptive parents described the impact of Kember’s actions on their lives. They said: “There is not one part of their body that has not been affected by the injuries they sustained. They are in pain day and night.” They described themselves as “angry and heartbroken” on behalf of their child, whose future had been “stolen” by Kember.
The judge also paid tribute to the child, who he said “fights and fights and fights yet maintains their happy disposition” as well as their parents. “Their noble and selfless conduct shows what towering good there is in people against a background of savage cruelty,” he added.
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