FIT OF RAGE

Amazon driver shook ‘whingey’ one-month-old baby so hard tot suffered catastrophic brain injuries

A RAGING Amazon driver who shook a "whingey" one-month-old baby so hard he suffered catastrophic brain injuries has been caged for three years.

Luke Thorp grabbed the tiny baby by his limbs in a "moment of aberration" before desperately asking medics "how can you tell if a baby has been shaken" when the unresponsive tot was rushed to hospital.

The baby, who legally can't be named, now needs round-the-clock care after suffering a severe brain injury affecting all four of his limbs.

He still can't walk or sit up by himself four years later and has been likened to a six-month-old baby.

Thorp, then aged 22, has now been caged for three years after being convicted of Section 20 causing grievous bodily harm without intent.

Reading Crown Court heard the thug, now 27, has never explained why he shook the baby in January 2016.

He instead claimed he was holding the youngster when he "tripped over some shoes in the hallway" but claimed he didn't drop him.

Thorp then called paramedics after the baby became blue and floppy and struggled to breathe.

'LOST CONTROL'

Sentencing, Judge Morris said: "This case has a long and tortuous history, the events go back to January 12 2016. The child was in all other respects a healthy, if somewhat whingey baby.

"On that fatal morning, you lost control. You held the baby by his arms and began shaking so viciously that it caused the brain injury from which he may never recover.

"Following a paediatrician's examination he was taken to the intensive care unit at Southampton General Hospital. MRI and CT scans revealed he had suffered a severe brain injury with catastrophic effects.

"In any view, these are tragic circumstances in which the quality of this child’s life was totally and irreparably changed."

The court was told the tot needed surgery on both hips as he had never used his legs.

Prosecutor Ian Hope added: "He cannot support his weight, he cannot sit, crawl, or walk and he needs around the clock care.

"There is in these cases an ongoing effect beyond the bounds of this case. The court is dealing with a life-altering change on a life that had barely begun, it is truly catastrophic."

As well as a jail sentence, Thorp was also ordered to pay a £170 victim surcharge.

Alan Kent QC, defending, said: "Luke Thorp has been left devastated. He is suffering from depression, feeling low and has difficulty getting up and on with his life feeling guilty and full of regret.

"He did not intend to cause that child really serious harm. It was a one-off, unique situation that plainly will never ever happen again. The injuries were not inflicted deliberately, the consequences were not intentional.

"It was wholly out of character and a loss of control that led to such awful injuries that he has to live with."