Overview
- Sean Jefferson, sentenced Thursday at Stafford Crown Court, received life with a 22-year minimum for killing his daughter, Darcy-Leigh, who died in March 2022.
- Medical experts said the baby suffered a catastrophic brain injury from violent shaking or head impact and had 47 rib fractures along with fractures to both legs.
- Amy Clark was convicted of causing or allowing Darcy-Leigh’s death after prosecutors dropped murder and manslaughter counts late in the trial, and she was jailed for seven years.
- Forensic hair tests showed Clark had taken cocaine and that both Jefferson and the baby were exposed to cocaine, as witnesses described the couple’s relationship as volatile and aggressive.
- Officials acknowledged the child was not entered on the health and social care information-sharing system due to an administrative error, and the local authority has pledged a safeguarding review to set out lessons.