Dad jailed for suffocating toddler
"It was a deliberate act, it was an act of force.'' Justice Rebecca Ellis
The actions of a man who suffocated his 2-year-old daughter have been described by the sentencing judge as deliberate and dangerous.
Philip Murray Kinraid, was yesterday jailed for four years and three months for the June 2015 manslaughter of his daughter Esme Claire Kinraid. The maximum penalty for manslaughter is life imprisonment.
On the evening of June 26, 2015, the defendant was at his Hawera home with his then partner and two children.
During attempts to settle Esme to sleep, Kinraid held her down in the bed with enough force to stop her from getting up.
Justice Rebecca Ellis told the High Court at New Plymouth that Esme was squirming around and screaming during this time.
The defendant continued to restrain her, holding her face down into the pillow until she let out a ‘‘shuddering breath’’, she told the court.
At this point Kinraid said his daughter appeared to be breathing normally so he adjusted her head to the side and left the room.
Later that night, Kinraid was called into work. After getting home, his partner asked him to check on Esme before they went to bed.
When he went into the room about 11pm, he noticed she was not breathing or moving and one side of her face was discoloured. ‘‘You said to the 111 operator: I think I might have killed my daughter.’’
Attempts were made to save Esme’s life but they were unsuccessful.
Justice Ellis said Kinraid had spoken about using a similar technique in the past to settle his children but she did not accept it was not a violent or dangerous act.
‘‘She was struggling against you. She had no means of escape,’’ she said.
‘‘It was a deliberate act, it was an act of force.
‘‘Esme is dead. Her life and her future was taken away in an instant. She was only 2 years old,’’ Justice Ellis said.
She said Esme’s mother or other family members did not feel able to read out a victim impact statement in court.
Justice Ellis said the ‘‘agony’’ it had caused Esme’s mother was undeniable, and Esme’s brother had been left ‘‘heartbroken and traumatised’’.
This was reiterated by Crown prosecutor Justin Marinovich, who said Esme’s death had caused ‘‘unimaginable and obvious pain’’ to her mother and the wider family.
Defence counsel Paul Keegan said his client was still coming to terms with his daughter’s death, one the lawyer described as a tragic accident.
While he accepted Kinraid’s actions were deliberate, Keegan said they had not been driven by anger.
When he found Esme dead, Kinraid had been ‘‘shocked and horrified’’ by what he was confronted with, Keegan said.
Kinraid had also been upfront with the police from the beginning about what had happened.
‘‘He’s shocked, horrified and suicidal. These are not the reactions of a man who had something to hide.’’
A previous sentencing indication was provided to Kinraid in November 2016, which included a starting point of 61⁄2 years jail.
After taking into account credit for his previous good character, cooperation with police during the investigation and his subsequent guilty plea to the charge, a final sentence of four years and three months was calculated.
Prior to sentencing, Kinraid’s defence team argued for permanent suppression orders to be granted in relation to two aspects of the case but this was opposed by the Crown, Fairfax and TVNZ.
A ruling was made by Ellis to lift the suppression regarding one of the elements but an immediate appeal was filed by the defence.
As a result, an interim order for the suppression order to remain in place was granted until an appeal hearing.
Outside court, Detective Daniel Coomey, of the New Plymouth CIB, said he did not accept Keegan’s submission that Esme’s death was an accident.
A first strike warning against Kinraid was issued when he pleaded guilty. – Fairfax NZ