Mum in new bid to jail man who admitted baby attack
SHE SAYS ASSAULT ON DAUGHTER ‘RUINED’ HER LIFE AND HE MUST BE SENT TO PRISON
A MOTHER has launched a fresh bid for justice after a man walked free from court after admitting an attack on her baby daughter.
Rebecca McGuirk, 24, met Dominic James Latham on a dating website in 2015. But after meeting him for the third time she discovered a catalogue of injuries on her 18-month-old child.
Amelia-Grace had suffered a bite mark to the cheek, a black eye, bruising to the torso, a swollen right hand and swelling to her head.
Latham, 27, admitted causing actual bodily harm to Amelia-Grace on the day his trial was due to begin at Manchester’s Minshull Street Crown Court.
At a hearing last week, he was spared jail and given a suspended sentence.
The M.E.N. asked Latham for a comment and he denied having assaulted Amelia-Grace, even though he pleaded guilty. Latham, from Oldham, said he was now seeking legal advice on whether he could change his plea.
Meanwhile, Rebecca is bidding to put Latham behind bars by having the case brought before the Court of Appeal.
The mother-oftwo told the M.E.N. that the life of her daughter, who is now three, had been ‘ruined.’
“(Latham) showed no sign of being capable of anything like that,” Rebecca said.
“I trusted him because he said he had a daughter himself.
“He had been to my house a few times and been on the floor with Amelia-Grace playing with her toys and making her giggle. I never thought he would’ve done what he did.”
Rebecca said the night before she discovered the injuries she left Latham alone with the baby for ten minutes while she was in the bathroom.
She said Latham brought her upstairs and appeared quiet, before storming off when asked why. In the morning, when the injuries were apparent, Rebecca says she found him downstairs on the sofa, where he denied having done anything before leaving. She never saw him again.
“She was only 18-months-old, she couldn’t defend herself and was just leaning to talk,” Rebecca said. “Once this happened to her, she went in her own bubble, she was petrified of people. She’s a bit better now, but she’s still got that fear, especially of men.”
Latham was arrested after the November 2015 injuries were reported to police and, on February 7, he pleaded guilty to causing actual bodily harm. Last Thursday, he was sentenced to 16 months, suspended for two years, with a 30-day rehabilitation activity requirement. In an interview with the M.E.N., Latham, who is supported by his current partner, said: “I pleaded guilty and I have never regretted anything more. If I had done something like that I wouldn’t be here now, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself.
“On the day of trial, it was my birthday, I was low and felt like I just didn’t know what to do. I was being advised different things at different times by lawyers, I was worried about the process thought and that if I got found guilty at the end of it, things would be worse. I don’t want to point the finger at anyone else or speculate, but I categorically know those injuries didn’t come from me.” Rebecca McGuirk