A man convicted of killing his daughter was sentenced to 14 years in prison by a judge who insisted he must have known about the harm he was doing to his baby.
Christopher Izzy, 31, who was also found guilty of negligence, was sentenced to a total of 14 years in prison by the Honorable Judge Murray, who said that despite his lack of experience as a father and maturity, he was “not a stupid man.”
Christopher Izzy has been jailed for 14 years – Credit: Norfolk Police
He said: “You must have known that what you were doing was hurting Elinor.
“It must have been obvious to you that there was a risk of really serious physical injury to her.”
Izzy was tried in Norwich’s Crown Court on charges of killing a three-month-old child.
Christopher Izzy pleaded guilty to manslaughter of his daughter Elinor – Credit: Brittany Woodman, Archant Norfolk
Carly Izzy, 36, who is now divorced from Christopher, has been accused of causing her daughter’s death and cruelty.
Elinor died of a catastrophic brain injury two days after she was admitted to hospital on December 18, 2019, after paramedics were called to the family home in Morton on Hill.
Both defendants denied all crimes, but on Friday (April 29th) Christopher Easy of Ellie Road, Little Thetford, Ellie, pleaded guilty after being found not guilty of murder but convicted of manslaughter last month after more than 20 hours of reflection.
Christopher and Carly Easy – Credit: From Facebook
Mr. Izzy looked straight ahead and showed no emotion when convicted, although his mother was visibly upset in the public gallery.
Judge Murray said Elinor died in December 2019 just 14 weeks after giving birth.
He said she had suffered “extensive bleeding and neurological damage to her brain”, as well as 31 rib fractures and five other limb fractures.
He said these injuries “cannot be explained by normal handling or even rough handling”.
Carly Easy of Elizabeth Drive, Chardberg, was also convicted of not allowing her daughter’s death but guilty of negligence.
The judge ruled that she was unaware that her husband was hurting the baby and was given a 12-month public order.
Judge Murray described how both defendants gave Elinor a diluted pumpkin and insisted that it was “undoubtedly something seriously wrong” with the way she was fed.
The verdicts in the case followed a 10-week trial during which the jury heard that baby Elinor had suffered 31 rib fractures, including 17 at the front and 14 at the back, which were found to have occurred at four different times.
Medical experts described to the jury how Elinor’s injuries were “highly indicative of injuries”, while another expert found that “a single traumatic event cannot explain these injuries”.
It was heard in the trial that Christopher Izzy was “responsible for these earlier injuries” and “ultimately responsible for Elinor’s death.”
Prosecutors said Elinor died of “intentional non-accidental injury, including some form of tremor and possibly a blow to the right side of her head.”
Christopher Easy’s account of the injuries that occurred after he inflicted “resuscitation shakes” on Eleanor is said to be a “package of complete lies.”
Morton on a hill near Lennoid, where Christopher and Carly Izzy lived when Elinor died in December 2019. – Credit: Peter Walsh, Arhant Norfolk
Jurors were also told during the trial that Carly Izzy was aware of the risk to her baby and “failed to protect Elinor” by leaving her with Christopher and continuing to do so.
On Friday, Sally House’s prosecutor’s office said it had a “history of violence or abuse of the victim in this case” that was “particularly vulnerable for its age”.
She said the crime was aggravated by “the number of detailed and complicated accounts” that the accused later invented “to cover everything up”.
Although there was “a precious little that any doctor could do” to save Elinor, given her injuries, she wondered if Christopher Izzy knew that at the time.
Regarding the accusation of cruelty for which Izzy was convicted, Miss House said that there were “long and numerous cases of cruelty, including negligence.”
She said the post-mortem examination found that Elinor was a “malnourished child” who was in a “severe state of malnutrition”.
Miss House said they left the night supplies to Elinor based on whether she woke up or not, instead of waking her up to eat.
She told the court that this meant that Elinor was therefore “missing valuable food”.
Miss House said there were cases where Elinor was left alone and the defendant was “aware of it.”
She said it was “very early days” when Elinor was not only premature but also “very small and very vulnerable”.
As for Carly Easy, who was convicted of cruelty, Miss House said there was “deliberate neglect” by the defendant.
Carly Izzy – Credit List: Brittany Woodman, Arhant Norfolk
She said that not only physical development was affected, but also “brain development that was affected in such a small baby”.
Miss House said Carly Izzy herself admitted as proof that she left Elinor alone for an hour and a half while she was at least 100 meters away.
Sally O’Neill, a mitigating perpetrator for Christopher Izzy, who has no previous convictions, said he was a “very inexperienced” father who “knew little” about the baby’s developmental stages or what to expect.
She said the lack of insight and maturity was a very important part of the case, as “he knew nothing better”.
Miss O’Neill said that if he had caused these earlier injuries to Eleanor, he might have done so without knowing that he had done so as a result of “inappropriate, rude treatment.”
The lawyer said his work as a livestock farmer was an important factor in how he treated Elinor in a “demonstrably inappropriate way”.
Miss O’Neill, who was supported in the defense of Christopher Easy by Daniel O’Donovan, said Elinor was “the only concern” of the accused at the time and “accepted that his actions had caused these injuries to this baby and her eventual death. “
She said he would have to “take this to his grave”.
Miss O’Neill said he was “clearly out of his depths” but “can’t be made to admit he can’t do it” and is part of his “inadequate personality”.
She said his “greatest regret” was that he had not been stronger and had asked for help, but instead pretended to be doing well.
Elizabeth Marsh QC, mitigating for Carly Easy, said the appropriate sentence for her client was a public procurement.
She said Carly Easy’s baby was killed through no fault of her own or inaction, and “feels extremely guilty for failing to protect her baby from the man who cheated on her.”
She said Elinor was “significantly underweight” and agreed that Carly “should be aware”, but insisted that other health professionals – not even grandmothers – had said so at the time.
Miss Marsh, who was supported in the defense of Carly Easy by Lori Tucker, said there was no injury to the child as far as her client was concerned, but a lack of supervision or abandonment, as described by the crown, and malnutrition.
She added that Carly Izzy had no previous convictions, was good-natured, fully co-operated in the investigation and showed remorse.
Miss Marsh said she regretted not doing the right thing, but she took care of Elinor as much as she could, and in the end she “took good care of this baby.”
The lawyer told the court that Carly Izzy left her baby on December 18, 2019, after she went to work, but then she had to “see how her baby suffers and dies in the next two days.”
Ms. Marsh said Carly Izzy, a volunteer at the Suffolk Wildlife Trust, was offered a full-time job if she was not sent to prison.
“The Terrible Truth”
Speaking after the verdict, Detective Inspector Lewis Kraske, a senior investigator, said: “Christopher Izzy has been found guilty of killing his daughter and it is a terrible truth that she died at the hands of the man who was supposed to take care of her; someone who had to take care of her and show unconditional love.
“Unfortunately, this was not the case and little Elinor was neglected for many, if not all her very short lives.
“Finding out what happened to this family during Elinor’s life and on that horrible night in December 2019 has always been our priority.
“I know we did that and presented our findings.
“It was a very emotional investigation and the memories of it will stay with us for a while.
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