A 33-year-old man has been sentenced to life imprisonment after murdering a six-month-old baby by violently shaking him while left alone with the child.
Kieran Humphreys was convicted of murder and cruelty to a child following a trial at Luton Crown Court. He was ordered to serve a minimum of 21 years in prison.
The court heard that Humphreys had been left to care for six-month-old Archie at a property in Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire, after the baby’s mother, then aged 19, went out briefly. The pair had met only a week earlier.
Prosecutors said Humphreys lost his temper and gripped and shook the infant with force, causing catastrophic brain injuries. Archie was taken to hospital but died the following day.
Body-worn camera footage shown to the jury captured Humphreys laughing and chatting with police officers at the scene, hours after the injuries were inflicted. He repeatedly denied being responsible and falsely claimed he had tried to save the baby after being alerted by others.
The court was told that Humphreys and others delayed calling emergency services and instead waited for the baby’s mother to return. Humphreys later maintained during police interviews that he had done nothing wrong.
During sentencing, the prosecution said Humphreys’ priority was protecting himself rather than the welfare of the child, and that no alternative explanation had been given for how the baby suffered fatal injuries while in his sole care.
Three other defendants Karen Smith, Sam Wyatt and Sharon Humphreys admitted conspiring to pervert the course of justice. Smith and Wyatt were jailed for 12 and 15 months respectively, while Sharon Humphreys received a nine-month sentence.
The baby’s mother told police she had been pressured into lying about what happened.