Liam Deane was sent to prison for a most vile crime. He was convicted of murdering his two-day-old infant girl, Luna, by punching her in the head during a bout of aggression. Deane had only been in prison for a month when his body was found dead in his cell. Fellow prisoner John Westland has been accused of killing Deane, and Westland appeared in court on the day following the discovery of Deane’s body in the jail cell.
After she was taken to the authorities for her injuries, Deane confessed to beating his two-day-old baby girl. He told the court that he not only punched the newborn in the head but that he shook her, too. He injured the baby fatally because she “would not stop crying,” and the sound of her cries was very annoying for the young father. He didn’t want her to cry anymore, so he continued to hit her until she stopped. While his method was effective, it was also deadly and resulted in a life sentence in prison.
Although Deane beat his baby girl into submission when she was crying, she did not die from her injuries until three days later. That means that doctors and nurses did their best to try to revive the infant girl following the severe beating she received at the hands of her daddy. She died in the hospital as a result of brain injuries due to the attack.
After a speedy trial in which Deane was found guilty, he was sentenced to life in prison for murdering the infant. Only a month into his prison sentence, he was killed by another inmate. While the reason for his death has not been explained, it stands to reason that Westland wanted to punish Deane for killing the infant girl.
“[Deane] said he was responsible for all of the injuries that she had suffered, and he said that Luna had not settled down and he lost control,” the prosecutor said in court at the time, Mirror reported.
“In my submission, there is simply no explanation for the defendant’s [behavior],” Richard Wright, who represented Deane in court in Leeds, England, said at the time. “His actions were wholly and utterly out of character for him. The defendant will have a very long time to reflect upon his terrible [behavior].”
While the court was in session, Wright read a statement from the victim’s mother.
“Seeing Luna on life support in the hospital will last with me forever,” read the statement. “I can’t describe how that felt. I would not wish it upon my worst enemy.”
The young mother continued her statement, saying: “I hope that no other parent has to go through what I have had to. I don’t think any sentence will ever be long enough for him.”
It’s not clear what the exact relationship was between Deane and Westland, but it’s evident that Westland took great exception to Deane’s crime. He killed the infant girl in a brutal attack, and then he was killed by another prisoner in what may have been retribution for his actions.
Deane will never be able to hurt another child again, and that’s a good thing. Unfortunately, an innocent baby girl lost her life because of Deane’s actions, and that is something that can never be forgotten or forgiven.
