Two parents who pleaded guilty to child cruelty after their three-month-old baby boy was discovered to have suffered broken bones – including a fractured skull and spine – have been spared jail.
Scott Colman, 31, and Tracy McKenzie, 41, were given suspended sentences during a hearing at Burnley Crown Court.
Colman collapsed outside the courtroom during an adjournment as he waited to be sentenced and was treated by paramedics.
He was later driven away by ambulance.
The court heard that Colman admitted child cruelty on the basis that he was not responsible for causing the injuries and has no knowledge of how they were caused.
McKenzie admitted the same charge on the basis that she was aware her son was unwell but was not aware of his ‘underlying injuries’.
Both defendants accepted that they should have sought medical attention sooner.
Judge Andrew Woolman said it was a “truly horrific picture of injuries” and the child’s distress must have been obvious.
Judge Woolman sentenced both Colman, formerly of New Lane in Oswaldtwistle and now of Yorkshire Place, Bishop Auckland, and McKenzie, of Blackpool Street, Oswaldtwistle, to eight months in prison suspended for two years. He said: “I am unimpressed by the silence over whichever of you knows what has happened.
“It may even be a conspiracy of silence between the two of you, both of who knows what has happened.
“The injuries were appalling and inflicted over five days.
“I have to sentence on the basis that you should have taken the child to hospital.”
He added: “It’s obvious that this child must have been severely unwell. It was obvious to any decent parent that something urgently needed to be done.”
Prosecutor Robert Smith told the court that when the baby was finally taken to A&E, doctors discovered subdural hemmoraghes and five fractured ribs.
He added that Colman called the NHS helpline on December 16 saying the baby was irritable and vomiting.
The prosecutor said doctors believed the injuries ‘were not accidental’ and would have caused the young baby ‘significant pain’.
Mr Smith told the court that Colman had said he had slipped on the ice carrying the baby.
Philip Holden, defending Colman, said both defendants had entered the same plea and should be sentenced as such.
Philip Parry, defending McKenzie, said she knew her son was unwell but was ‘ignorant to his injuries’.
