Baby killer mother in confession of another child attack

A MOTHER jailed for murdering her seven-month-old baby had confessed to attacking another child years earlier.

Jennifer Crichton, 35, seriously injured the child years before being allowed to keep daughter Amelia, whom she then murdered while under a social service care plan.

She had been arrested but never charged over the earlier attack, but went on to admit harming the child to a social worker, nurse and doctor.

It was only after she inflicted “catastrophic” head injuries on Amelia that she was prosecuted for the earlier offences.

Crichton was convicted at Preston Crown Court of Amelia’s murder and also three counts of grievous bodily harm with intent and child cruelty to the victim of the earlier attack.

On the night Amelia was murdered last April, Crichton refused to take over feeding her daughter, telling her social worker “No, you do it”, and went for a cigarette instead.

Later the same evening, the social worker left Crichton alone and within two hours had fatally injured her “helpless and vulnerable” child. Experts concluded the baby had been the subject of a “violent physical assault” as a result of “striking or throwing” against a hard surface as well as bodily shaking.

Crichton tried to blame her partner, Richard Sheppard. His family said she only wanted Amelia as a “meal ticket” to get a house and benefits.

She told a social worker “I’m a good mother” but was also “loud and aggressive” and heard to shout at her baby using crude language.

A serious case review is underway. Lancashire Constabulary said the Crown Prosecution Service decided there was not enough evidence to prosecute her over the earlier attack.