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| Roxie Jo-Anne Archer death: Man jailed for life for toddler murder | Roxie Jo-Anne Archer death: Man jailed for life for toddler murder |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A man has been jailed for life for beating a two-year-old girl to death while her mother was in New York celebrating her 21st birthday. | A man has been jailed for life for beating a two-year-old girl to death while her mother was in New York celebrating her 21st birthday. |
| Ben Raftery, 21, "forcibly and repeatedly punched" Roxie Jo-Anne Archer in March 2012 while looking after her in Ashton-under-Lyne. | Ben Raftery, 21, "forcibly and repeatedly punched" Roxie Jo-Anne Archer in March 2012 while looking after her in Ashton-under-Lyne. |
| Manchester Crown Court heard Raftery's girlfriend Sophie had been taken to the US as a surprise by her father. | Manchester Crown Court heard Raftery's girlfriend Sophie had been taken to the US as a surprise by her father. |
| Raftery was told he would serve a minimum of 18 years in prison. | Raftery was told he would serve a minimum of 18 years in prison. |
| The court previously heard Raftery dialled 999 at 00:30 GMT to say he had left a stair gate open and that Roxie had fallen down the stairs. | |
| Raftery was looking after her at the child's house in Elizabeth Street, with Roxie's grandmother due to take care of her the following day. | |
| Roxie died the next day in Tameside Hospital, having suffered extensive bruising, brain damage and retinal haemorrhaging. | |
| Sentencing Raftery, Mr Justice Saunders said it was an "appalling crime which involved a grown and powerful man inflicting a number of hard blows on a toddler which were sufficiently forceful to cause devastating brain damage from which she died". | |
| He said: "The defendant was not the father of Roxie. | |
| "He was living with Roxie's mother at the time and had been entrusted with the care of Roxie for 24 hours while her mother was away." |