A mother who battered her infant daughter in a fit of rage, then ran herself a bath and bought a lottery ticket before taking her to hospital, was jailed for a minimum of 12 years after being convicted of murder.
A mother who battered her infant daughter in a fit of rage, then ran herself a bath and bought a lottery ticket before taking her to hospital, was jailed for a minimum of 12 years after being convicted of murder.
Jurors heard the injuries Eliza Ngaba suffered in the November 2019 attack, including a fractured skull, were caused by a combination of forceful shaking and a very significant impact to the head. The attack on Eliza was the culmination of increasingly hostile behaviour towards the infant, the court heard. Eliza was placed into foster care but her injuries left her profoundly disabled and vulnerable to severe complications from infection, including death.
Following the child's death, aged two, in 2022 from a viral respiratory infection, police launched a fresh investigation which ultimately led to Ngaba being charged with murder. Sentencing her to a mandatory life sentence with 12 year and 154-day minimum term, Mrs Justice Brunner KC said Ngaba showed callous and uncaring behaviour towards Eliza.
Ngaba had already served six years and 211 days of her 14-year sentence for wounding, meaning that time period should be subtracted from a minimum term that would have been 19 years. The judge criticised Ngaba for booking a taxi to take Eliza to hospital, delaying medical help and failing to maximise her daughter's chances of effective treatment. Ngaba was described by the taxi driver as being very calm and not seeming worried, despite her daughter being seriously ill.
The judge said it was an unusual feature of the case that Ngaba had already served part of her sentence for wounding, and that time period should be taken into account when determining her minimum term. Ngaba's reaction to Eliza's collapse had been callous and uncaring, the court heard.
The prosecution case was that Eliza died as a result of a violent assault inflicted by her mother during what can properly be described as a loss of control amounting to a fit of rage. It was a sustained and aggressive assault upon a defenceless infant. Eliza's injuries were caused by two distinct and different mechanisms - that is shaking and impact. The attack was prolonged and Eliza's head was likely to have been struck against a wall.
The distribution of injuries shows this was not a momentary attack. The trigger for Ngaba losing her temper is not clear. The result of that assault was immediately catastrophic. It would have been obvious to Ngaba straight away that Eliza had serious injuries but she continued to act in a callous way.
She deliberately delayed and she deliberately concealed Eliza's terrible state. Instead she put her interests above hers. The judge said Eliza's foster parents, Laura and Gary Haynes, loved Eliza dearly and missed her bright and sunny nature every day. They brought much love and happiness into her life, and it was a stable and caring household.
The judge said Ngaba's actions were a stark contrast to the love and care that Eliza received from her foster parents
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Mother Jailed for Minimum of 12 Years for Murder of Infant DaughterA mother who battered her infant daughter in a fit of rage has been jailed for a minimum of 12 years after being convicted of murder. The court heard that the mother, Sarah Ngaba, had shown growing hostility towards her daughter prior to the attack and had deliberately delayed and concealed her daughter's serious injuries. The judge said that Ngaba's actions were callous and uncaring and that she had put her interests above her daughter's. The case has raised concerns about the treatment of vulnerable children and the need for greater support for parents who are struggling to cope.
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