Baby killer given longer sentence over abuse images

Reece Kelly was dubbed a "monster" after killing his baby son

A baby killer has had extra time added to his life sentence for possessing indecent images of children as young as four.

Reece Kelly was convicted of murdering his four-month-old son Dallas, after shaking the baby so violently he died from injuries consistent with a fatal road crash.

Jailed for life last year, he was charged with further offences after investigators found images on his phone of child sex abuse.

At Carlisle Crown Court on Tuesday, Kelly - appearing from HMP Frankland over videolink - admitted three counts of making indecent photographs of children and had a 10-month prison term added to his sentence.

On 21 October 2021, Dallas suffered catastrophic injuries at the hands of Kelly, who had been alone with the baby while his mother was working.

The boy was in cardiac arrest when paramedics arrived at the family home and died in hospital from a traumatic brain injury four days later.

Kelly, then of Hunday Court in Workington, admitted manslaughter but denied intending to cause his young son serious harm.

But during a murder trial at Carlisle Crown Court that saw him dubbed a "monster", jurors unanimously found the 31-year-old guilty.

He was handed a mandatory life sentence and ordered to serve a minimum of 18 years behind bars before being eligible for parole.

Child abuse

The murder trial was set against a background of drug-related chaos, with investigators finding evidence of drug dealing on the phone seized from Kelly at the time of his arrest.

He was brought back to court after other offences emerged following scrutiny of the phone.

Tim Evans, prosecuting, said there had been numerous messages concerning the organisation and delivery of non-prescription Class-C drugs.

Analysis of the handset also uncovered the presence of more than 100 sexual abuse images involving girls as young as four or five, 29 of which were in the most serious category and showed penetrative sexual activity.

Kelly initially pleaded not guilty to wrongdoing and claimed someone else had been using the phone.

But on Tuesday, he admitted making indecent photographs of children between 16 September and 22 October 2021.

Defence solicitor Tariq Khawam said mitigation was "limited", adding: "He has pleaded guilty.

"Other phones were seized from the defendant.

"Nothing of this nature was located on those phones."

Judge Nicholas Barker told the court the judge who had originally sentenced Kelly for murder and child cruelty would have treated the indecent image offences as an aggravated feature.

Imposing a 10-month prison term, he said it would be served consecutively with the life sentence.

Judge Barker also ordered Kelly be permanently deprived of the phone on which the illegal images were found.