Gosport baby death: Mother and ex-partner jail terms 'not unduly lenient'

Roxanne Davis and Sam Davies both tested positive for cocaine and cannabis after their arrests

A couple who were each jailed for 10 years for causing or allowing the death of a three-week-old baby will not have their sentences increased.

Stanley Davis died in hospital in March 2017 from a broken skull, having previously sustained 41 fractures.

His mother Roxanne Davis, 30, and her then partner Sam Davies, 24, both from Gosport, were found guilty in November and faced up to 14 years in jail.

The Attorney General's Office said the sentences were not "unduly lenient".

An online petition calling for the pair to spend longer in prison has attracted more then 15,500 names, while Gosport MP Caroline Dinenage wrote to the attorney general asking for the jail terms to be reviewed.

She also believes the maximum sentence for the offence should be raised.

The MP told BBC News: "It's extremely disappointing. Local people in Gosport have been horrified by this brutal, distressing case.

"I'm still of the opinion that both in general and in this specific case, the maximum sentence was far too low and I will continue to make that argument."

Leader of Gosport Borough Council Mark Hook said: "I am surprised they didn't review it. I agree with those 15,500 people - we should have been looking at the maximum sentence."

A spokesperson for the Attorney General's Office said a referral "can only be made if a sentence is not just lenient but unduly so, such that the sentencing judge made a gross error or imposed a sentence outside the range of sentences reasonably available".

Stanley Davis, pictured about a week before he was taken to hospital, died in March 2017

Sentencing the pair at Winchester Crown Court last month, Judge Jane Miller QC told the court Stanley had suffered "excruciatingly painful" injuries, possibly by being swung and thrown on at least three separate occasions.

She described Davis as the "dominant partner" and said she treated the baby as a "fashion accessory". However, she added that Davies was "never controlled" by his former partner.

Stanley suffered broken ribs and limbs on three separate occasions before the fatal head injury was inflicted on or about 20 March 2017, the trial heard.

The couple both tested positive for cocaine and cannabis after their arrests on 21 March, when the baby was taken from the flat in Garland Court. Stanley died in hospital seven days later.

An independent review of how professionals worked together to safeguard Stanley has been commissioned by Hampshire Safeguarding Children Board.

Police said Stanley suffered an 8cm (3in) skull fracture