A Burnley man who bit an infant girl on the face hard enough to puncture her skin and inflicted widespread bruising has been jailed for 13 months at Bradford Crown Court.
Thomas Pickering, from Burnley, appeared for sentence via video link from HMP Leeds after failing to attend an earlier court hearing. The conviction follows an inquiry into physical injuries sustained by a baby girl placed temporarily in his care.
The court heard that Pickering was left alone to look after the child for approximately 40 minutes while the baby’s mother went out. When the mother returned home, she found the infant crying and whimpering in her cot, displaying severe facial redness consistent with prolonged screaming and distress.
Once the redness faded, the full extent of the physical trauma became apparent. The child had sustained two puncture wounds centred inside a prominent bruise on her right cheek, as well as a distinct purple bruise on her left earlobe. Police officers were alerted, and comprehensive medical examinations revealed additional bruising across the baby’s neck and arms.
Expert evidence provided by a forensic odontologist and an oral surgeon concluded that the puncture wounds on the baby’s cheek were the direct result of a bite delivered by an adult. The marks were consistent with adult incisor teeth piercing through the skin, inflicting substantial physical pain and suffering on the infant child.
Under the provisions of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933 and standard UK reporting restrictions, child victims are entitled to strict anonymity. It is a criminal offence to publish, broadcast, or disclose any information, name, address, or image that could lead to the public identification of the child victim across print, digital, or social media networks.
During police questioning, Pickering refused to accept responsibility or cooperate with detectives. He declined to answer questions regarding his dental history, refused to identify his dentist, and refused to supply dental impressions or allow photographs to be taken of his teeth for comparative forensic matching.
The presiding judge sentenced Pickering to an immediate custodial sentence of 13 months’ imprisonment. Under UK statutory sentencing guidelines for short determinate custodial sentences, Pickering is expected to serve approximately four months and ten days in prison custody before becoming eligible for release on licence under probation supervision for the remainder of the 13-month term.
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