A wicked couple from Hull have been sentenced to prison after leaving their vulnerable baby to suffer with four serious leg fractures over a six-week period, deliberately avoiding medical attention despite the child's obvious agony.
Deliberate neglect of suffering infant
Georgia Newbold, 29, from west Hull, and Kristjan Brawley, 34, of no fixed address, were found guilty of child cruelty at Hull Crown Court on December 9. The court heard how they neglected their baby by failing to seek proper medical treatment for multiple fractures that would have caused significant pain and distress.
Four fractures discovered during hospital visit
Prosecutor David Godfrey detailed how the infant suffered fractures to the left femur, right tibia, and two separate fractures to the left shinbone over six weeks. Each injury required significant force and would have caused obvious pain to the immobile child.
"Each fracture required a significant application of force. Each would have caused significant pain," Godfrey told the court.
Brawley eventually took the baby to hospital on November 12, 2019, claiming he had accidentally sat on the child's left leg. However, medical examinations revealed older fractures that had been left to heal without any professional care, causing the infant unnecessary suffering.
Deliberate avoidance of medical professionals
The court heard compelling evidence that the parents actively hid their child from healthcare providers. During the period when the fractures occurred, the baby missed routine immunisation appointments at their GP practice, preventing medical professionals from observing signs of distress.
"The child was being hidden from medical professionals, who could have seen the signs of its distress and pain," Godfrey emphasised during proceedings.
Contradictory accounts and lack of explanation
Brawley offered conflicting explanations for some injuries, claiming one fracture occurred when he sat on the baby while it lay on a bed, and another happened when the sleeping child fell and he pulled it up by the leg. Neither parent could explain how their three-month-old sustained the right shin fracture.
"There was silence on how an immobile child suffered that significant injury," Godfrey noted, highlighting the parents' failure to provide coherent accounts.
Defence arguments and judicial response
During mitigation, Charlotte Baines argued that Newbold was not the "perpetrator" of the injuries and that the cruelty occurred over a limited period without evidence of long-term physical effects. Brawley's representative suggested there was no evidence of sadistic behaviour, though acknowledged some disregard for the child's welfare.
Judge Alexander Menary dismissed these arguments, stating the neglect was "done deliberately" and that any caregiver would have recognised "something was wrong" with the infant. He noted the parents' expressions of remorse in pre-sentence reports were difficult to reconcile with their trial claims.
Sentencing and reporting permission
Newbold received a two-and-a-half year prison sentence, while Brawley was jailed for two years and ten months. Both were granted bail until their sentencing.
Judge Menary specifically allowed reporting to confirm that the victim was the couple's biological child and was a baby at the time of the offences, ensuring transparency in this distressing case of parental neglect.
