Father jailed for killing his 16-week-old baby when he lost his temper after running out of cannabis

William Stephens, 25, shook to death his 16-week-old Paris Vince-Stephens

Had become 'agitated' after running out of cannabis, a jury heard

Daughter suffered catastrophic head injuries and bleeding in the eyes

Stephens has been sentenced to six years in jail at Bristol Crown Court



Jailed: William Stephens, 25, killed his 16-week-old daughter after losing his temper because he had run out of cannabis, a court heard

A father who shook to death his baby daughter because he was agitated after running out of cannabis has been jailed for six years.



William Stephens, who also used heroin and crack cocaine, killed 16-week-old Paris Vince-Stephens at her home in Bristol.



He violently shook his daughter after she started crying - leaving her with catastrophic head injuries and bleeding in the eyes.

The 25-year-old, from Southmead, Bristol, denied manslaughter, but was convicted by a jury at Bristol Crown Court yesterday.



Paris's mother Danah Vince, 19, was also accused of ki lling her daughter, but was acquitted of manslaughter during a seven-week trial.

The court heard that on the day of Paris’s death, Stephens and Miss Vince had become 'agitated' because they had run out of drugs.

Ignatious Hughes QC, mitigating, said: 'There is plenty of evidence that he and Danah Vince are likely to have been in a state of agitation due to lack of cannabis.'

The pair had subsequently argued, before Miss Vince left Paris in Stephens's care while she went to the doctors.



During her absence, Paris was admitted to Bristol Children’s Hospital with serious head injuries - with one shocked expert saying he had never before seen such a severe case of bleeding in the eyes.

The baby died three days later when her life support machine was switched off.

An examination on Paris's body found she had either been shaken or suffered a head injury from hitting her head against a soft surface - or a combination of both.

Victim: Baby Paris Vince-Stephens was shaken to death by her father at her home in Southmead, Bristol

Stephens, who has an IQ of 52 and cannot read, initially told police he had not touched his daughter all day - claiming she had simply gone 'all floppy' while he was feeding her.

However, he later admitted he 'slightly shook her' at Miss Vince's flat in Bristol.



Christopher Quinlan QC, prosecuting, said Stephens had a string of previous convictions for violence between 2006 and 2010, including punching a pregnant woman and assaulting a police officer.

He had been handed community orders, cautions, reprimands and warnings for the offences.

However, Hughes said Stephens's 'modest' upbringing in a 'drug-ridden' neighbourhood meant it was 'hardly surprising' he had acquired previous convictions and a drug habit.



Case: Stephens, who has an IQ of 52, was jailed for six years at Bristol Crown Court yesterday

He added that the defendant had been subjected to attacks in custody - including scalding water being thrown at his face - due to the nature of his offence in January this year.



The court also heard that Stephens had a volatile relationship with Miss Vince - with the family having been under the eye of social services.

Despite being given a restraining order to stay away from Miss Vince, Stephens had defied it and continued living with her and their daughter.

A serious case review is now being carried out into the way public bodies handled the case.



Sentencing Stephens, Mr Justice Teare told him: 'This is a case where a loss of control has resulted in a fatal act of violence on a defenceless baby.

'You will have to live with the fact that you killed your daughter.'

He added that Stephens's 'serious learning disabilities' could have been a factor in Paris's death.

'You admitted having a short temper,' he told him. 'Your inability to control your temper is exacerbated by your significant learning disability.

'She had been left with you in her crib and she must have in some way irritated you that you lost your temper with her.

'You yourself said she was crying - it may well have been that.'

Speaking after the case, James Ward, crown advocate for the Crown Prosecution Service South West, described the case as 'difficult'.

'Some people may consider that six years for killing a child is inappropriate,but I want the community to understand that the defendant was charged with manslaughter,' he said.

Case: Speaking outside Bristol Crown Court, pictured, today, the CPS advocate described the case as 'difficult'

'He didn’t intend to kill the baby, nor did he intend to cause it really serious harm.

'Also, the defendant does have serious learning difficulties. His IQ is between 52 and 54. He lost control when he had that baby, probably because it cried.

'As a result of that, he shook it and that baby died.'

The Bristol Safeguarding Children Board has launched a serious case review, which is due to be published next year.





















































