A West Yorkshire man has been jailed following an attack on a two week old baby. The incident occurred in February 2008 when Matthew Masterman, 22, shook the baby, causing him serious injuries including broken ribs and brain haemorrhaging.
Judge Peter Benson, described the attack as “disturbing in the extreme”. The infant suffered fractures to his collarbone, ribs, knee and haemorrhaging to his brain, eyes and lower spine.
It was 12 hours before help was called for the baby.
According to the BBC, it was initially feared that the baby would suffer from severe brain damage and handicap as a result of the incident. Fortunately, it appears that the baby has made an excellent recovery from his injuries and that this will not be the case.
Detective Chief Inspector Marianne Huison of West Yorkshire police described the incident as “…a sickening and savage attack against a very young baby boy who was only two weeks old at the time.”
The child was fortunate not to have suffered brain damage often associated with such an attack. This is known as shaken baby syndrome. The injuries are caused by the weight of the child’s head which at this point makes up about 25% of an infant’s total body weight. When the baby is shaken it cannot sustain the weight of the head as its neck muscles are not developed enough and the force of the movement can cause torn blood vessels and lead to severe injuries.
Mr Masterman inflicted the injuries on his child after losing control of his emotions and this is the most common cause of the injury, when people become frustrated with crying and the stress that comes with looking after a baby. It is important to try and get friends or relatives to come and take over from time to time if you feel that the pressure of caring from a child is becoming too much to handle.
