Wayne William Downing has been given a prison sentence. He'll have seven years to think about what he's done.
Editor's note: This article was originally published on August 14, 2020. It has since been updated.
When babies are born, they mostly bring new light and joy to the environment. When they laugh, it fills the rooms with joy and happiness, and when they cry you feel like turning the world upside down to make them feel better. While a lot of us think the same way, some don't. Wayne William Downing got so irritated by his grandson's cries that in an attempt to make him stop, he took his life instead.
The 48-year-old young grandpa from Perth, Australia was tired when he was woken up by his grandson whom he was caring for. He shook the 3-month-old baby Noah for four to six seconds in the hopes of making him stop. But unfortunately, the baby stopped crying forever.
According to The Sun, William said, “I could see his head moving from side to side and backwards and forwards. As soon as I put him down I realized what I'd done… I was just trying to go off to sleep and to get some sleep." William admitted that he gave Noah "just a little shake" but it was enough to kill the tiny soul.
All parents know when babies are born, their body is still delicate and growing. The bones form and become harder as the kids grow. Wayne being a father should've been aware, but if his words are to be believed, he was "excessively tired" and frustrated, according to Perth Now.
Due to the vigorous shaking, the baby suffered from traumatic brain and spinal damage which took his life in May 2016. He had not even started looking at the beauty of the world clearly when his eyes were shut forever just because his grandfather wanted to have a peaceful sleep. The baby boy's mother found his cold, blue, and limp body when she returned.
In a court hearing in the Supreme Court of Western Australia which was heard recently, when Wayne was questioned by the cops, he admitted that he, in fact, did shake Noah which caused the baby boy's death. The grandfather also revealed that he was suffering from anxiety and severe depression at the time of the incident which could have intensified his “excessively tired" feeling and the frustration.
Justice Anthony Derrick was the one listening to the hearing of Wayne. After all the facts were presented to him, he came to the conclusion that Wayne was a good grandfather who loved Noah and did not want to kill him intentionally.
"You shook Noah out of frustration, and in the irrational and forlorn hope that doing so would make him be quiet and fall asleep." He continued explaining how Wayne had been the perfect grandfather to his grandson all along and said, "Further, there is no suggestion that you had ever previously subjected Noah to any form of abuse or ill-treatment."
The judge was sharp to notice that even though Wayne shook him, he did not try to get the baby boy any medical attention or take him to a hospital.
He said, “I recognize that even if you had made a more immediate attempt to seek assistance for Noah, this may not have any difference to the outcome for him, given the extent of his injuries." But he also understood that it's hard to find out if a baby is injured or not in the first look and added, "However, you could not have known this and the right thing to do would have been to immediately seek help."
Wayne's family including Noah's mother were present in the court during the hearing to support him as they all believed that there was no blood on his hands as it was an accident. The young grandfather was found guilty of manslaughter and given a jail term of seven years. It'll be at minimum five and a half years before he'll be eligible for parole.
References:
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/12270958/grandad-killed-baby-shaking-perth/
