Murdered by her babysitter
- 00:01:54
- ITN
Murdered by her babysitter
A teenage babysitter murdered a two-year-old girl in a brutal attack which resulted in 68 injuries to her tiny body, including brain damage. At Manchester Crown Court, a jury found 15-year-old Karl Roger McCluney guilty of battering to death Demi Leigh Mahon after he denied her murder but admitted manslaughter. Demi Leigh's mother, Ann Marie McDonald, left McCluney in charge of her daughter for around 90 minutes at a house in Eccles, Greater Manchester, while she went out to collect a child benefit cheque on July 15 last year. McCluney took the little girl to the park before attacking her because he was angry with her behaviour, the jury heard. Demi Leigh was punched repeatedly in the face and left brain-damaged. Pathologist Dr Naomi Carter said part of her scalp was also sheared off, most likely as a result of it coming into contact with a hard surface. She also had what doctors believe were bite marks on her right arm and back, and her ears were either pulled, pinched or kicked. Outside court, Demi Leigh's father, Gary Mahon, 40, of Morecambe, said: "I'm pleased with today's verdict but I still can't understand why he did that to my little girl. I hope he gets locked up for a long time." Referring to McCluney, he said: "He's an evil twisted little monster, that's all I can say about him." Ms McDonald had left her daughter with the boy on several occasions. Salford Council Children's services failed to act on concerns raised by members of the public, including members of Demi Leigh's family, that her home was being used as a drug den. Other concerns focused on Demi Leigh being left crying and looked after by lots of different people and the fact that her mother was injecting heroin and not in a fit state to care for her. Salford City Council did fail to initiate a child protection investigation despite the threshold for intervention being met. But the serious case review, carried out by the Salford Safeguarding Children Board (SSCB), states: "The death of Child D could not have been anticipated and therefore it could not have been avoided." On the day Demi was murdered, Ms McDonald returned to find the boy standing outside the house. Ms McDonald said he told her: "I picked her up - I might have hurt her - and she fell in the park." Ms McDonald, known as Sindy, rushed inside and found her daughter lying on a bed. Sobbing, she told the jury: "Her face was bruised. I tried to pick her up and her head flopped back. She couldn't breathe properly. "I screamed 'Why haven't you rung an ambulance?'. He said 'I never done nothing, I've not done nothing'." Demi Leigh was taken to hospital, where she was met by five doctors. Her parents were at her bedside when her life support machine was switched off two days later. Psychiatrist Dr Cesar Lengua said the boy made the following admission to a health worker: "I'm not proud of what I've done and everyone will think I'm a monster but nobody can ever punish me as much as I'll punish myself." Dr Lengua, who was called by the defence, said the boy suffered from an unsocialised conduct disorder and had a "below normal" IQ. He said it was clear there were "disharmonious relationships between the parental figures in this boy's life" and family dynamics were crucial to understanding the development of his conduct disorder. The jury heard that the boy has never explained his attack on Demi Leigh but has alluded to the fact he was angry with her behaviour.
ITN | June 26, 2009
