Cruel stepdad jailed for life for ‘vicious’ murder of 10-month-old baby
A stepdad convicted of murdering a 10-month-old baby who was subjected to regular beatings amid a ‘culture of cruelty’ has been jailed for life.
Jacob Crouch was left to die ‘in his cot, alone’ and in agony with at least 39 rib fractures and dozens of other injuries after enduring a ‘living hell’ at the hands of forklift driver Craig Crouch.
Jurors were told he was beaten on a regular basis from the age of just four months and died after contracting a fatal infection following a ‘vicious assault’ which saw him ‘kicked or stamped on with such severe force that it fractured a rib and caused a tear in his stomach and bowel’.
Crouch, 39, was handed a life sentence with a minimum term of 28 years at Derby Crown Court on Friday after he was found guilty of murder and three counts of child cruelty.
Jacob’s mum Gemma Barton, 33, was cleared of murder, manslaughter and two counts of child cruelty but found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child and a third count of child cruelty. She is currently being sentenced.
The judge, Mr Justice Kerr, told Crouch: ‘Jacob was a small baby who had not yet learned to walk or talk. Sadly he never did so. To state the obvious – he could not defend himself.
‘For that reason, your attacks on him were an abuse of trust of the grossest kind. You knew he was dependent on the adults caring for him to protect him from harm.
‘Instead of protecting him you killed him.’
He added: ‘Jacob was a happy, smiling, bubbly baby who never complained about the treatment he received. He had to put up with it and he did so often with smiling and with laughter in defiance of his tormentors.
‘It is no less than tragic he won’t become a boy and then a man.’
Jurors, friends and relatives returning to watch the pair be sentenced sobbed as a victim impact statement from Jacob’s dad Andrew Smith, who split from Barton before he was born, was read out.
In it, he said: ‘I never got to meet him. All I have is a photo to remember him by. I will never be able to hug him and celebrate his achievements. I will never be able to buy him his first pint when he turns 18.
‘You have taken Jacob and all the memories we would have shared. The pain will be with me for a lifetime. It will never go away. I can’t understand how or why you could inflict the injuries you did, Craig.
‘My boy has some justice now, but it will never be enough for his suffering.’
Prosecutor Mary Prior KC said Jacob’s death at his home in Linton, Derbyshire, on December 30,2020, was the culmination of regular abuse within a ‘culture of cruelty’.
She said his mum and stepdad ‘worked together’ to cause his suffering.
Dr Sarah Dixon, a consultant paediatrician, told the court Jacob suffered ‘repeated physical abuse’ in the weeks, days and hours prior to his death.
His injuries included a traumatic bowel perforation which led to a fatal infection, which forensic pathologist Dr Michael Biggs said could only have been sustained through blunt force trauma such as a punch, kick or stamp.
He also said that he would expect to see such injuries in car crash victims or those who had suffered a multi-storey fall.
Dr Biggs said Jacob’s injuries would have left him ‘systematically unwell’ in the time before his death.
Ms Prior said: ‘Our case is that these two parents created an environment in which they encouraged and applauded each other in their control and punishments of this little baby. Neither of them, in this very small house where no one could be alone, could have committed these offences without the knowledge and assistance of the other.
‘Neither sought medical help for Jacob at any stage for the pain and suffering caused when his bones were broken or in the few days that followed.’
She added: ‘Perhaps the most tragic aspect of this case is that if either of these parents had gone for medical help, Jacob would have lived.’
In text messages from June 2020, Crouch told Barton she needed to be ‘more regimental’ with Jacob to ‘not let this take over us’, later adding he was ‘starting to get really pissed off with him’.
He also sent a chilling WhatsApp voice note declaring himself head of the ‘chain of command’ at home.
Likening it to his job on the shopfloor at JCB, where he boasted to Barton of being a senior executive who met with politicians and had use of the company helicopter, he said: ‘As human beings we tend to follow a hierarchy. What this means is there always has to be a leader, in everything that we do.’
He went on: ‘For example, there is nobody here in exactly the same job that I have over the same people over the same departments. I answer for everyone. Everyone below me answers to me.
‘If they f*** up, I get my a*** kicked, and then it goes down the chain of command. This also has to stand at home. There is always a hierarchy.’
Other messages revealed the pair at one stage referred to Jacob as the ‘devil’.
In September, when Barton told Crouch she was bathing Jacob, he replied ‘3 foot deep, just hot water and some bleach xxxx’.
In a victim impact statement, Malcolm Barton, Jacob’s maternal grandfather, said: ‘He (Crouch) seemed like he was trying overly hard to impress Gemma and us, and we knew he was a liar.
‘Gemma told us that she was going to give Jacob the surname Crouch when he was born, which we thought was inappropriate.
‘We started questioning Gemma and becoming suspicious of him. We did not like Craig at all. His lies were huge and unbelievable but he did not come over to me as a violent person.
‘He (Jacob) was such a happy little lad. He was sitting on the floor and crawling about and I remember he was playing with his great-grandad’s walking stick.
‘We have lost the opportunity to see Jacob grow up, we will never see him have his 18th birthday, get married and have children of his own.’
Giving evidence, Crouch said Jacob’s injuries had ‘nothing to do with me’, stating that he ‘didn’t see anything’ and ‘didn’t see anyone do anything to hurt’ his stepson.
Barton also denied ever harming her son, and when asked who could have inflicted the injuries said: ‘It was not me so that leaves Craig.’
She claimed her son was her ‘bundle of joy’ and said it felt like her ‘whole world had just ended’ when she was awoken by Crouch screaming that Jacob was dead.
After the pair were convicted, police released video footage showing the moment each was arrested over the baby’s death.
Barton appeared hysterical as she pleaded ‘I haven’t done anything’ while being handcuffed.
Crouch can be seen telling an officer ‘You won’t need them, I’ll come with you’ before he is led away.
Detective Inspector Paul Bullock said after the verdicts: ‘Jacob Crouch was born into a culture of cruelty where both of the people he should have been able to trust above any other allowed him to be subjected to assault after assault.
‘Heartbreakingly, for much of Jacob’s short life, he would have been in significant pain as a result of the serious and repeated assaults.
‘It is clear from the evidence found on Gemma Barton and Craig Crouch’s phones, through text messages, videos and audio recordings that they were equally responsible for the culture of cruelty that was inflicted on baby Jacob.
‘As a father, I can’t comprehend what happened behind closed doors and my thoughts remain with Jacob’s wider family who have been left devastated by his death.
‘I hope that today’s verdict brings with it a degree of closure for them, and it begins the process of them being able to grieve for Jacob, and remember the happier times with a much-loved child.’
An NSPCC spokesperson said: ‘This deeply distressing case highlights how babies are particularly vulnerable to abuse because they are completely reliant on the adults around them for care and protection.
‘It’s crucial that everyone does all they can to prevent child abuse.
‘Anyone who has concerns for a child’s safety should contact the local authorities, the police or the NSPCC Helpline on 0808 800 5000.’
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