Barnsley Dad Jailed For Killing Baby

26 March 2013, 17:39 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

A South Yorkshire dad who shook and killed his baby daughter when he lost his temper as he watched a football match on TV has been jailed.

32 year old Mark Lackenby, had placed a bet on Arsenal beating Barcelona in their Champions League clash on February 16 2011, a jury at Sheffield Crown Court heard.

Lackenby was so angry when Barcelona's David Villa put the Spanish team into the lead he lashed out at his five-week-old daughter Ruby, leaving her with injuries from which she later died.

Lackenby was cleared of murdering his daughter at their home in Goldthorpe but was found guilty of her manslaughter by a jury of 10 women and two men.

He was also found guilty of causing Ruby grievous bodily harm when he broke her ribs a week or so before he inflicted the fatal injuries.

Lackenby, was in tears as the judge described what had happened when he was left alone with his daughter as he watched the match as her mother was upstairs having a bath.

He had denied hurting Ruby.

The judge said that despite witnesses saying Lackenby, who has three other children from a previous relationship, was a loving and caring father, there was evidence he had harmed baby Ruby on other occasions.

Lackenby was found guilty after a three-week long trial.