Friday, July 30, 2010

Couple jailed for baby son's manslaughter

A man was sentenced to five years and two months prison, with a non-parole period of three years for not seeking treatment for his newborn son, who died from head injuries. The seven-week-old boy died at a Newcastle hospital on May 6, 2006 having suffered a fractured skull.

On May 4, the mother was alone at home with her two children (including the baby boy and her 1 year old sister) and the baby boy was crying in his cot. She picked him up and then threw him back into the bassinet. He kept crying. She then pushed the bassinet with both hands, causing it to move across the floor and fall over. She then checked the baby boy and found that he was badly hurt. When the father returned home he suggested that medical attention be sought, but the couple argued and the child was left in his cot overnight.

The next day the boy's body was limp and his eyes were rolling back in their sockets. He stopped breathing as the couple drove him to hospital and died a day later. An autopsy found the boy died from a fractured skull and he had a number of other injuries including a broken wrist and ribs and cuts and bruises, which then suspected that the child had suffered a period of child abuse. According to the judge, life of the child could be prolonged if he had received a medical treatment at earlier time.

At last, the mother was sentenced to at least two years and six months' prison while the father was sentenced to five years and two months prison, with a non-parole period of three years. The couple's daughter, now aged five, is in foster care.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Aaron Travis Pompey jailed over car crash where four passengers died

A life-threatening road accident has taken place on South Australia’s west coast in May 2009. A 20-year-old man, Aaron Travis Pompey was drunk and driving a stolen car when he crashed and killed his four passengers. The car left the road and when he overcorrected, it rolled down an embankment and hit a tree. Two of Pompey’s friends and another two teenagers from Western Australia, whom he had just met, were killed, but Pompey suffered some minor injuries. Police estimated that he was driving with a speed at between 170-183km/h. A court has heard afterwards. Today, he was pleaded guilty for aggravated causing death by dangerous driving, driving without licence as well as drink-driving. The judge set a total sentence of nine years and three months, but a non-parole period of five years. Judge Boylan gave Pompey credit of his guilty pleas and obvious remorse, but still, he had to impose a lengthy jail term. Other than this, Pompey was also banned from driving for 10 years.

Friday, July 16, 2010

Elderly couple dies in home elevator

Yesterday happened to be a day at which an elderly couple aged 90 and 89 who had shared their lives for more than 60 years pointed to a tragic end. Police estimated that they had been dead at least four days before a newspaper carrier called the authorities realising that papers had piled up by their garage as well as an untouched watermelon left at the couple’s door. Police had to break into the house as the doors are locked and bolted. They found no one until their sight came into a touch with the elevator. Once the shaft was opened, they found the elevator stuck between the first and second floor of their house. Their dead body were lying in foetal position, facing each other. Autopsies concluded that they died from heat exhaustion as the temperature inside the elevated was estimated to be approximately 35C. Other than this, there was no phone inside the elevator, leaving the couple unable to call for help. The couple’s son responded by saying that he hoped they would go together as they were so dependent on each other.