• Man convicted of killing infant daughter with 47 broken ribs
• Mother guilty of allowing her death

A man in Staffordshire, UK, has been found guilty of killing his five-week-old daughter after she suffered 47 broken ribs and a fatal brain injury caused by repeated assaults.

The baby, Darcy-Leigh Jefferson, died in hospital on 29 March 2022, two days after sustaining the injuries. Her mother, Amy Leigh Clark, 34, was convicted of allowing or causing her death.

The couple had denied all charges, but a jury at Stafford Crown Court found them both guilty. Jefferson, 35, also faced two additional charges of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, while Clark was convicted of two counts of allowing serious harm to a child and acquitted of two other charges.

The court heard that Darcy-Leigh had been born five weeks premature and suffered repeated abuse. Clark had concealed her use of alcohol and illegal drugs, which both parents used during the child’s brief life.

Prosecutors said Jefferson inflicted the fatal brain injury by violently shaking the baby or striking her head against a hard surface, attempting to silence her crying.

Following the verdict, the Staffordshire child services official confirmed a review of the case would be published and apologized for “failing to intervene decisively in 2022.”

The judge will announce the sentencing date for both parents at a later time. Police described the case as “profoundly distressing,” noting that the father abused and killed his daughter while the mother allowed it, calling it “despicable behavior against a defenseless child.”