Jordan Carrie had violently shaken his young son, who was just a few weeks old, at his then partner Keeleigh Watts’ home in Rednal on the morning of June 13, 2020
A dad who couldn’t control his temper has been jailed for hurting his baby son so badly that he ended up with brain damage.
The baby’s mum, who didn’t do enough to keep him safe, won’t have to go to jail. Jordan Carrie shook his tiny son hard at the home of his then girlfriend Keeleigh Watts in Rednal on a morning in June 2020. The little boy had bleeding in his brain and eyes and had to be put into a deep sleep while doctors looked after him in hospital.
After a trial, both parents were found guilty of letting serious harm happen to their child. In court on Thursday, Carrie, who is 28 and lives on Coventry Road in Yardley, cried and hid his face in his hands when he was told he would be going to prison for five years. Watts, who is 23 and now lives in Greenvale in Northfield, was handed a two-year suspended sentence due to her lesser role in what happened and her prospects of rehabilitation.
The child, who had a cardiac arrest, is recovering well but it’s too early to know if there will be any long-term effects, the court heard. People were worried about how Carrie handled his baby, calling him ‘heavy handed’, reports Birmingham Live.
The trial was told that he lost patience with the baby after a 4am feed and pushed him hard at Watts, which made her check for bruises later. Despite her worries about leaving the baby alone with Carrie, she agreed to go back to bed while he looked after the baby. It was then that the little boy screamed and collapsed.
Carrie said he didn’t know what might have happened, but experts think the baby was shaken hard. Judge Sarah Buckingham, when she gave out the sentence, said Carrie was proud when his son was born but soon found being a parent tiring as he realised how much work a newborn baby is and how lack of sleep can make parents feel worn out.
The judge said the dad didn’t take care of his baby properly and didn’t listen to the advice from the baby’s mum and grandma. Judge Buckingham told the court that the dad treated his little boy like he was much older and was too strict with him, like making him sleep right after feeding.
Judge Buckingham said that on the day the baby was hurt, he was acting like any normal little one, but the dad got mad and shook him so much that it caused serious harm. The baby cried a lot, and the dad had even told the police about it. Afterwards, the dad pretended he didn’t know what was wrong when doctors asked, and then he started telling lies to the police. The judge knew he hadn’t been in trouble before and that he wouldn’t see his son again.
She also said he might have ADHD or Autism but wasn’t sure because there was no doctor’s note. “You do suffer with a loss of patience and become easily agitated,” she said to the dad. The judge also spoke to the mum, saying she knew the dad wasn’t good at being a parent because other people had said so and because she had said he hit her when she was pregnant.
The judge told Watts that she went back to bed on that morning ‘against your own better judgement’, and said she was the only one who ‘truly knew’ how dangerous her boyfriend was.
Judge Buckingham said: “I accept you adored your son and you were a kind and loving mother devoted to him but you were weak when it came to protecting him and doing what’s best for him. Despite the monumental help and support your mother gave you and the good advice she gave you, you failed to acknowledge and heed the warning.
“When Jordan was around you prioritised what Jordan wanted and failed to protect your son ignoring the risk and you left him exposed.” The judge also said that Watts put Carrie before her son because she was seen laughing with him outside the hospital while her baby was being cared for, and then she lied to the police about what happened that morning.
The judge understood that it must be ‘particularly hard’ for Watts to only be able to send letters to her son through his new parents, knowing she can’t look after him again. Judge Buckingham said that Watts often got into bad relationships and usually tried to make her partner happy to avoid violence at home. She said: “In this case you did so again, at the cost of your son.”
However, it was also noted that Watts had willingly taken part in programmes to help her recognise warning signs and red flags in relationships, showing she could change. Watts was told to complete 25 days of rehabilitation activity and 100 hours of unpaid work. Her prison sentence was put on hold for two years.
