A man who bashed a six-month-old to death after he lost his temper has been sentenced to eight years in prison.
Michael Te Kouarehu Kereopa, 32, was convicted of manslaughter after bashing Gracie-May McSorley in her Kapiti home in July 2015. She died of a head injury after being flown to Wellington Hospital.
No minimum term was given.
Before the sentence was handed down, Kereopa's lawyer Bruce Hesketh said he was "really remorseful" and "really disgusted in himself" for initially lying about what happened, saying she fell and hit her head.
"If he could turn back time, of course he would."
Gracie-May's family outside court, following the sentencing (Emma Jolliff / Newshub.)
Kereopa was in a relationship with Gracie's mother Charlotte McSorley at the time he killed her. Ms McSorley left Gracie in Kereopa's care on July 6, 2015.
Justice Ellis said Ms McSorley had told Hereopa not to pick Gracie-May up while she went out, even though she was grizzling.
"When Charlotte returned you were sitting on bed, Gracie was in her cot, lying on her tummy. You said she was breathing funny and had vomited. You didn't say she was limp and her eyes were rolling around in her head."
She didn't have a temperature so she was left to sleep. Later, when Ms McSorley rolled her over, she noticed her eyes and lips were puffy. She got her up and could see bruising on her side and behind her right ear. Then Gracie-May started convulsing.
An ambulance was called, and Ms McSorley performed CPR until help arrived. Gracie-May was flown to Wellington hospital by helicopter. Surgery was unable to relieve the pressure on her brain. She was put on life support, and died the following day.
Experts later compared Gracie's injuries to those that would be sustained in a high-speed car crash.
Gracie-May's aunt Victoria Balmforth says no sentence was ever going to be enough, considering the damage he's done to the wider family.
"Losing Gracie has torn our family - every man who enters our household is a threat, every person who looks at Gracie's sister Isabella is being scrutinised," Ms Balmforth said after the sentencing.
"We can no longer trust anyone with anything, and we are always second-guessing people… we have learned the only people we can trust is ourselves, and that isn't how life should be."
She says Gracie "had a smile that would make your heart melt".
"I'm sure everyone has lost someone at some point, whether it be a father, a mother, a sister or a brother. It is always sad to see someone you love die, but to have such an innocent soul taken by the hands of another person is always so much more devastating. That's not because that one person is a greater being than the other, but because we are programmed to cope with the death of someone who has lived a full life."
Newshub.
