Killer jailed for beating girlfriend’s baby so hard he fractured her skull
A man who brutally murdered his girlfriend’s baby then tried to blame her in court has been jailed for life.
Jamie Chadwick, 22, attacked 12-month-old Orianna Crilly-Cifrova when he was left alone with her for an hour.
After the attack, Chadwick strapped Orianna back into her pram and left her to die.
Chadwick then lied about what had happened at the flat he shared with his girlfriend, Chelsea Crilly, telling police he was not there.
He then claimed it had been a ‘tragic accident’ and tried to blame Miss Crilly, 20, during the trial.
Mrs Justice Yip told Chadwick: ‘This was a cowardly final effort by you to escape the consequences of what you had done,’
‘The jury saw through your blatant lies.’
Miss Crilly, 20, who was found not guilty of allowing Orianna’s death, had been ‘assured’ by Chadwick that he would never harm a child.
Mrs Justice Yip said: ‘Sadly, Miss Crilly chose to believe you rather than follow the advice she was given by the professionals.
‘That is a decision she will regret for the rest of her life.’
Chadwick, who was not Orianna’s father, was under strict orders not to contact any children in relation to injuries suffered by another child, referred to as Baby T.
Mrs Justice Yip told him: ‘While you remained under investigation, it was made clear to you that you were to avoid contact with children.
‘Certainly, you well knew you were not to be left with a child in your sole care.’
Chadwick lied to a probation officer, telling them he had no contact with Orianna.
While pointing out Chadwick was never charged with an offence, the judge said him being found guilty of Orianna’s murder ‘strengthens the suspicion’ that he was responsible for Baby T’s injuries.
Orianna was described as being ‘clever’ and ‘generally happy’ by healthcare professionals who visited her.
But prior to the fatal attack, she had suffered fractured ribs and a fractured vertebra in her neck.
The judge said it was not clear who was responsible for those injuries.
On October 16 last year, Chadwick was left alone with Orianna at the flat in Radcliffe, Greater Manchester, when Miss Crilly went to a medical appointment with his sister.
When they returned about an hour later, Orianna was ‘almost lifeless’.
She had suffered two ‘very severe blows’ to her skull, prosecutor Peter Wright QC said.
It is not clear how Chadwick inflicted the injuries but a pathologist said they were consistent with a ‘high-speed road traffic accident’ or a ‘multi-storey fall’.
The judge said the attack ‘represented more than a momentary loss of temper’.
Andrew O’Byrne QC, defending, said Chadwick had ‘limited intellectual capacity’, but the judge said his mental health difficulties did not ‘explain or excuse’ his actions.
The judge told Chadwick: ‘It is very hard to understand why you lost your temper to the extent that you did within such a short time.
‘Your mild learning disability cannot offer an explanation.’
Chadwick, of no fixed address, was sentenced to life in prison, to serve a minimum of 18 years.
He will only be released if the Parole Board deem it safe to do so.
In a heartbreaking statement, Orianna’s family said: ‘Orianna was just 12 months old, learning to walk and talk and starting to develop her own little personality.
‘She had the cheekiest smile with the biggest brown eyes, a combination that melted out hearts and wrapped us around her little finger.
‘Orianna was a daughter, granddaughter and great-granddaughter and the void she leaves can never be filled.
‘She was our gift and cruelly taken from us and we are unsure how we can live without her.’
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