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A GEORGE Town man jailed last year for starving his pet dog to death in early 2009 was bashing his newborn son throughout the same timeframe. Kenneth William Blake, 23, and his pregnant partner - the baby's mother - Khristy Maree Fisher, 21, appeared in the Hobart Supreme Court yesterday for sentencing and both were jailed over the abuse and neglect of their firstborn child between January 2009 and March 2009. Blake was jailed for four years and Fisher for six months. A community nurse made a scheduled visit to the couple's home six weeks after the baby's birth and discovered he had a fractured leg, bruising to his face, and a bleed in one eye. She insisted he be taken to the Launceston General Hospital where the full extent of his parents' offending was soon revealed. The baby had suffered: •a displaced fracture to the left femur which occurred 10 to 14 days earlier. •metaphyseal fractures in both the right and left tibia bones, inflicted a few days earlier. •recent fractures of the right fifth rib and slightly older fractures of the left fourth and sixth ribs. •bruises to the left cheek and under the left eye. •a haemorrhage in the left eye. Chief Justice Ewan Crawford said that babies' bones were very strong and tended to bend rather than fracture, meaning "considerable force may be expected if a fracture occurs". "The injuries would have caused the baby tremendous pain, and no doubt considerable pain would have resulted over an extended period due to the fractures," he said in handing down the sentences. He said that it was only due to his own refusal to accept Blake's denials that he caused the injuries at a previous court appearance - meaning Blake would have to testify - that the accused admitted he was to blame. Blake accepted the femoral fracture was caused about two weeks before the injury was discovered by the nurse when he was changing the baby's nappy. "He became angry, grabbed the baby's leg, twisted it with significant force and heard a crack," the judge said. "He was aware that the leg may well have been broken." Blake later blamed the infant for his violent rage, claiming the tiny baby kicked him in the testicles and telling police "if he kicked you in the nuts, you'd go off your head too". On a second occasion while changing his son's nappy - with his femur already broken - Blake twisted the infant's legs to the point both tibia bones fractured. He said that another day when he "was in a bad mood" he squeezed the baby by the chest so tightly his ribs broke. He did the same thing on a later date but "can't remember it". Also an unemployed cannabis-smoker of low intelligence, Blake's partner Fisher gave birth to their second child last year. Neither child is in their care. Chief Justice Crawford said that Fisher's crime was her failure to report the violence she knew Blake was inflicting on her son, and failing to seek medical treatment - including pain relief - for the serious injuries he was forced to endure. "A baby is helpless and entirely dependent for its care and well-being on others," the judge said. "Both of the accused owed the baby a duty to provide it with proper and loving care. "They failed badly in fulfilling their duty - in particular, Blake not only failed in that way but was deliberately violent, venting his frustrations and anger on it. "He in particular deserves to be condemned for what he did." He noted Blake's prior convictions revealed he had starved the couple's own dog to death in the weeks during which he was bashing his baby. The judge ordered Blake serve four years in jail with a two-year non-parole period. Fisher is likely to give birth in jail after being sentenced to six months' imprisonment. Both sentences were back-dated to May 11 when Chief Justice Crawford ordered they be remanded in custody to await sentencing.

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