This article is from the source 'independent' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/father-jailed-for-eight-years-for-killing-baby-as-he-played-computer-game-9595058.html

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
Father jailed for eight years for killing baby as he played computer game Frustrated father shook daughter to death because she was screaming too loudly as he played 'Assassin's Creed'
(35 minutes later)
A father has been jailed for eight years for killing his baby daughter after being frustrated by her screaming as he tried to play a computer game. A man has been jailed for eight years after he killed his baby daughter because she would not stop screaming when he was trying to play a computer game.
Mark Sandland, 28, sobbed as he was sentenced for picking up five-week-old Aimee-Rose by her torso and shaking her during a sudden loss of temper. Mark Sandland claimed he suffered an epileptic fit while holding five-week-old Aimee-Rose and came round to find himself lying on top of her.
He claimed that he suffered an epileptic fit and came round to find his daughter underneath him at their flat in Church Road in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex. But a court heard that the 28-year-old had actually been playing Assassin’s Creed 3 on his PlayStation at the time and, during a sudden loss of temper, picked up his child by the torso and shook her.
Police who attended the flat after Aimee-Rose was admitted to hospital on 5 November, 2012 found a PlayStation game controller on the sofa opposite the TV. Police who attended Sandland’s flat in St Leonards-on-Sea, East Sussex, on 5 November 2012 said they found a PlayStation controller on the sofa opposite the TV, which was turned off.
Sandland was charged with murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of lack of intent, which was accepted by the Crown. Prosecutor Sally Howes, QC, said that evidence from his mobile phone showed Sandland had logged on to a website providing a walkthrough guide of how to play the video game at 2.22pm – just 16 minutes before he called 999 to request an ambulance.
Sentencing him at Hove Crown Court, Judge Mr Justice Sweeney said that after he inflicted the injuries, Sandland lied and sought to cover up his actions. The nature of the step-by-step instructions on the site meant there would have been little point to accessing it unless the game was being played at the time, Ms Howes said.
Analysis of Sandland's mobile phone internet history showed a website offering tips on how to play the computer game, Assassin's Creed 3, was accessed at 2.22pm, Miss Howes said. A text sent at around lunchtime from Sandland to Aimee-Rose’s mother, who went to attend her first class at the University of Brighton's Hastings campus at 9.30am said: “She hasn’t shut up since about half an hour after you left.”
The detail of the website, giving step-by-step instruction, meant there would have been little point accessing it unless the game was being played, she added. Some 16 minutes later, at 2.38pm, Sandland dialled 999. Mr Justice Sweeney said: “It's the Crown's case that thereafter, frustrated with the game and with Aimee-Rose screaming, you lost your temper and you assaulted her, gripping her torso hard and violently shaking her.
On that day, Aimee-Rose's mother was attending her first class for an applied social science degree course at the University of Brighton's Hastings campus. “Whilst it's impossible to identify the precise detail of what you did, the injuries that you caused Aimee-Rose speak for themselves.”
During a break at around lunch-time, she sent Sandland a text message asking after Aimee-Rose, to which he replied: "She hasn't shut up since about half an hour after you left." Sandland had been playing Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed 3 when he killed his daughter in a sudden burst of anger Sandland had been charged with murder, but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter on the grounds of lack of intent – a plea which the Crown accepted.
Aimee-Rose was admitted to the Conquest Hospital in St Leonards with brain damage, and other injuries including bruising to her face, chest, abdomen and lower limbs. He sobbed in the dock at Hove Crown Court today as Mr Justice Sweeney said he had lied and tried to cover up his actions.
She was then transferred to the paediatric intensive care unit at King's College Hospital, London, but died on November 9 2012. Mr Justice Sweeney told him: “Whilst you have no recollection now of the fatal incident, it's obvious that at the time you appreciated what you had done and in consequence lied and sought to cover up what had actually happened.
“You pretended on the phone that you had a fit. You turned off the television to cover up the fact that you had been on the PlayStation.
“Thereafter you continued to lie and cover up to those who were trying to treat Aimee-Rose, although I stress that they wouldn't have done anything different if you had told the truth, and to the police.”
The baby suffered a range of injuries including bruising to her face, chest, abdomen, hip and lower limbs, as well as subdural haemorrhages in a number of locations.
She was taken to the Conquest Hospital in St Leonards and though a heart-beat was re-established she was unconscious, unresponsive and unable to breathe without the aid of a machine.
She was transferred to the paediatric intensive care unit at King's College Hospital, London, but died four days after the incident on 9 November 2012.
The judge said Sandland’s sentence was aggravated by the fact that he had been in a position of trust over the vulnerable five-week-old, repeatedly lied to cover up his actions and had shown no real remorse throughout the case.
Sandland will serve half of his eight-year sentence, the judge said, after which he will remain on licence.