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Amina Agboola murder: Death-kick killer Dean Harris jailed | |
(35 minutes later) | |
A man who murdered his girlfriend's two-year-old daughter by kicking her so hard he ruptured her liver, has been jailed for life. | A man who murdered his girlfriend's two-year-old daughter by kicking her so hard he ruptured her liver, has been jailed for life. |
Amina Agboola, of Scott Drive, Yaxley, near Peterborough was kicked 6ft (1.8m) across a room by Dean Harris, 20, last November. | |
Harris must serve a minimum of 17 years in jail, the judge ruled. | Harris must serve a minimum of 17 years in jail, the judge ruled. |
Amina's mother, Sarah Racqueman, 29, was cleared by a jury in June of causing or allowing her death. | Amina's mother, Sarah Racqueman, 29, was cleared by a jury in June of causing or allowing her death. |
Harris had admitted manslaughter but was convicted of the child's murder at Cambridge Crown Court. | Harris had admitted manslaughter but was convicted of the child's murder at Cambridge Crown Court. |
Paramedics who responded to a 999 call made by Harris on 21 November described Amina as looking "like a rag doll" when they arrived at her home. | |
'Unleashed anger' | |
Initially Harris told them Amina had fallen off the toilet, but he later admitted to police he had kicked her in the stomach. | |
During his trial, the jury heard Harris lost his temper after Amina repeatedly soiled herself. | |
Prosecutor Zoe Johnson said soiled nappies and clothing found at the house were "the trigger that unleashed Harris's anger towards Amina". | |
In a confession letter released by Cambridgeshire Police, Harris wrote: "The next thing I knew I had kicked her in the stomach. | |
"She had gone backwards and landed on her front about 6ft away." | |
Amina was treated at the scene but died later that day at Peterborough City Hospital. | |
Bite marks on cheek | |
An inquest revealed her liver had been split in two by the kick and there was evidence of older injuries on her body including a recently broken arm, bruises to her face and skull, and bite marks on her cheek and forearm. | |
During the trial it emerged Amina's mother, Ms Racqueman, had been warned by a social worker that Harris had a history of domestic violence and should not be left alone with the child. | |
However, she said she gave him "the benefit of the doubt", adding: "I believe in second chances." | |
Harris, who showed no emotion while being sentenced, was told by the judge: "You are a dangerous young man." | |
'Cry every day' | |
Det Insp Alan Page, from Cambridgeshire Police, described Amina's death as "a horrendous case", the consequences of which Harris would "have to deal with... for the rest of his life". | |
In a statement released by police, Amina's father, Rueben Agboola, said: "I am pleased with the sentence Dean Harris has received today. | |
"However the grief feels like it has no end. I think about Amina constantly. I still cry every day. | |
"I go through the motions of living but inside I am somewhere else thinking about my daughter all the time." | |
A serious case review is currently being carried out by Cambridgeshire County Council's Local Safeguarding Children's Board. |
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