Daisy Mae Burrill: Fleetwood dad convicted of daughter's murder

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-37755696

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A father who admitted throwing his crying baby onto the sofa in a fit of temper has been convicted of murder.

Two-month-old Daisy Mae Burrill died three days after John Burrill fractured his daughter's skull in Fleetwood, Lancashire.

The prosecution said her injuries were consistent with being gripped by the legs and swung against a hard surface.

The 31-year-old had admitted manslaughter at Preston Crown Court but a jury found him guilty of murder.

He had initially told medical staff and police the infant became limp but he could not explain why.

'Fateful error'

The court heard the child's mother, Ashlee Cox, described her then-partner as "moody" when he got up to feed the baby at their home in Gordon Road on the morning of 11 March.

Burrill told the court the baby had initially gone back to sleep but began to cry again.

He admitted to jurors he lost his temper "quite a lot" and added: "I think the tiredness just took over and I really lost my rag and I threw her down on to the couch."

The baby was taken to Blackpool Victoria Hospital and later transferred to Manchester Children's Hospital where her life support was switched off on 14 March.

Burrill could not explain the extent of her injuries.

In his closing speech, prosecutor Andrew O'Byrne QC, said the defendant had lied repeatedly to "save his own skin".

"Poor Daisy Mae made the fateful error. The child cried and irritated her father. He lost his temper and he hurt her and he killed her.

"I am sure that he now regrets it, but that is the cold and brutal truth," he added.

Burrill will be sentenced on Wednesday.