A monster who Googled ‘if baby hits its head does it sleep a lot’ after carrying out a violent attack on a eight-week-old girl has been jailed for 21 years today.
The child was left disabled and looking like a car crash victim after she bore the brunt of Tom Kember’s ‘explosive rage’ at a property in Taunton, Somerset, in January 2020.
The 27-year-old was found to have caused grievous bodily harm with intent to the defenceless baby, resulting in head injuries that have led to profound disabilities, Bristol Crown Court heard.
The jury was told that on 12 January 2020 Kember had searched online for ‘what happend aif u (sic) hit a baby’s face’ and ‘can a baby be sick if it gets hit’.
At 10.45pm the next day, while at McDonald’s with his partner Katherine Reilly and the baby in a buggy, Kember searched online for terms such as ‘if baby hits its head does the baby sleep a lot’.
It is believed that the child had already sustained injuries at the hands of Kember by that point.
Yesterday during sentencing Judge Julian Lambert said: ‘Rage and dangerous loss of control is evidenced in your antecedence – you show no remorse.
‘This was an extreme explosive rage, exerting forces far beyond rough handling and similar to the force of a car crash, or a fall from height.
‘The victim of your crime was extremely vulnerable at only eight weeks old after a premature birth.
‘The consequences were utterly catastrophic, traumatic brain injury. You have robbed a child of most quality of life.
‘This was an attack of monstrous evil with the worst possible consequences.’
The court heard Kember was convicted of assault with intent to cause GBH after a five week-long trial.
At the same trial 25-year-old Reilly was convicted of cruelty and she was given a six-month jail term suspended for two years.
The judge told her she ‘built a wall of silence and hid behind this’ and ‘betrayed a helpless injured baby…by shielding the wicked monster who had so grievously injured her’.
The baby – now aged five years – was born in 2019 and discharged from hospital in January 2020.
But just ten days later an ambulance was called to their home and she was found unresponsive.
Footage from inside a McDonald’s restaurant shows Kember and Reilly eating a meal on January 13 as he made the shocking searches following the vicious attack.
Later that day Kember committed a further assault at about 11.17pm, the court heard.
Kember called 111 reporting that the infant was unresponsive at about 1.20am on January 14.
Paramedics noted the baby had facial bruising and raised concerns with staff at Musgrove Park Hospital, who alerted Avon and Somerset Police.
A jury at Bristol Crown Court convicted Kember of causing grievous bodily harm with intent to the baby, while Reilly was convicted of child cruelty, in October last year.
Judge Julian Lambert jailed Kember for 21 years with a further four years on extended licence on Friday. Reilly received a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years.
The judge said Kember had two previous convictions – one for domestic violence against a former partner and one relating to an incident with police following his arrest in relation to the baby’s injuries.
Kember was being transported to custody in a police car travelling on the motorway at 70mph when he grabbed the steering wheel, causing the vehicle to veer across the carriageway.
The judge told Kember this, as well as threatening police officers during his trial, illustrated the defendant’s ‘rage and dangerous loss of control’, and found him dangerous – resulting in the extended sentence.
Sentencing Reilly, the Judge Lambert said there was believed to be an 80-minute period between Kember inflicting the injuries and contacting 111.
He told Reilly her actions in not seeking medical attention during that time were ‘wicked and spineless’, with medical evidence stating that any delay could have increased the harm to the baby.
‘You betrayed the helpless injured baby by shielding the wicked monster who had so grievously injured them,’ the judge said.
‘You seem to have no conscience and show no regret for failing the child. The law is such that I cannot punish you for your cowardly failure to reveal the truth. Many decent folk will think I should be able to do so.’
Prosecuting, Robin Shellard said the infant, now aged five, has been left non-verbal, is registered blind, suffers multiple daily seizures and has other complex needs.
‘All their difficulties are life-long,’ Mr Shellard said, adding that the child has a reduced life expectancy because of the conditions caused by their injuries.
Police say it is likely the child suffered two injuries at the hands of Kember, with the most severe likened to a car crash, or falling from a two-storey high building.
At 6.10am on January 14 – after the baby had been taken to hospital – Kember searched ‘can I get dosent for abiseing … baby’ – believed to be a mistyped search for ‘can I get done for abusing … baby’.
In a statement, the child’s adoptive parents described the impact of Kember’s actions on their lives.
They said: ‘There is not one part of their body that has not been affected by the injuries they sustained. They are in pain day and night, a type of pain you cannot just kiss away as every parent does, or make better with a cuddle.’
They described themselves as ‘angry and heartbroken’ on behalf of their child, whose future had been ‘stolen’ by Kember.
Judge Lambert paid tribute to the child, who he said ‘fights and fights and fights yet maintains their happy disposition’ as well as their parents.
‘Their noble and selfless conduct shows what towering good there is in people against a background of savage cruelty,’ he added.
Kember and Reilly remain in a ‘committed relationship’, Edd Hetherington, representing Kember, said.