Baby-shake murder: Daniel Sanzone jailed for life for killing son

Daniel Sanzone will serve a minimum term of 15 years in prison

A father who shook his two-week-old son so violently the baby went blind and deaf has been jailed for life.

Daniel Sanzone inflicted "catastrophic and irreversible" brain injuries on Joshua Millinson at his home in Wolverhampton in October last year.

The 23-year-old was convicted of murder on Wednesday at Birmingham Crown Court.

The court heard he has since received death threats and his prison cell had been ransacked. Mr Justice Robert Jay said Sanzone was "immature".

Joshua was in intensive care at Birmingham Children's Hospital for nearly a month after the incident before a High Court order was issued to switch off his life support machine.

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The assaults must have caused the baby "considerable distress" and Joshua must have "cried out in pain", Mr Justice Jay said.

Sanzone was unable to accept that his partner, Joshua's mother Zoe Howell, was "no longer able to focus all her attention on you", the judge told him.

Ms Howell was cleared of child cruelty and causing or allowing Joshua's death.

Joshua's mother Zoe Howell was cleared of causing or allowing his death and child cruelty

The couple had split up in the days before the shaking incident on 24 October last year.

Speaking after the sentencing, Ms Howell said the sentence was not long enough.

She said: "I've lost my son and I've had to go through all this. People have been slating me for something I didn't do.

"My son was my whole world.

"I can't explain it. I just keep saying to myself I should have done more, but what could I have done?"

The court was told paramedics were called to Whitburn Close in Pendeford where they found Joshua not breathing and "floppy".

Joshua Millinson was in hospital for a month after he was violently shaken by his father

Sanzone told Joshua's mother that the "thud" she said she heard from another room was him dropping a remote control.

During the trial, jurors were told Joshua's injuries were some of the most extreme medical experts had seen.

The experts found evidence of previous injuries including a "forcible twisting of bones" from about a week prior to the shaking and rib and leg fractures that may have pre-dated previous hospital visits.

Sanzone will serve a minimum of 15 years in prison.