A mother who failed to get medical help for her seriously injured baby will not spend any time in jail, but will serve her sentence under house arrest.
The shocking criminal negligence case began when Rebecca Lea Denton came home after having coffee with a friend on April 21, 2021, and found her three-week-old baby, Alvin, seriously injured.
His partner, Ashley McGregor, told him he had knocked over the bassinet with the helpless baby inside, the court was told.
In the hours that followed, baby Alvin had a swollen upper lip, was not feeding properly, seemed sleepy and emotionless at bath time, and could not open his left eye.
Judge Rauf Soulio, reading Denton’s sentence in the Adelaide District Court on Thursday, said Denton knew his son had suffered a traumatic event but “at the time he did not seek any medical treatment for him”.
Photos prior to April 21 showed Alvin “thriving,” but after the alleged incident with McGregor, there was a “visible change in his condition and status.”
Rebecca Lea Denton (pictured) was sentenced to home detention in the Adelaide District Court on Thursday.
On the afternoon of April 21, Judge Soulio said Alvin’s breathing was “labored” and that during the night he was restless and crying and let out a “loud cry, as if in pain.”
Then, at 4.30am on April 23, Denton heard her baby making “chest noises, gargling and grunting” but she “did not try to wake him”, Judge Soulio said.
At 6.30am Denton found the child in his bassinet “cold and unconscious”, the court was told.
She and McGregor took him to a health facility shortly after 7 a.m., but medical staff were unable to revive him.
Medical staff noted bruising on his back and spine, Judge Soulio told the court, and under his left eye.
An autopsy on Alvin found that blunt brain trauma was the cause of his death.
Judge Soulio emphasized that there was no suggestion that Denton caused any of Alvin’s injuries, only that she failed to get him medical help.
“Knowing that he had been injured, that his condition was deteriorating… they did not provide or obtain medical attention,” he said.
The court was told Alvin’s death had “affected a number of people”, including Denton’s eldest son and Alvin’s teenage brother.
Judge Soulio, referring to the teenager’s victim impact statement, said the boy found it “difficult to cope with the pain he had felt”.
“He said he had been suicidal to be with his little brother,” Judge Soulio said.
Rebecca Denton (left) and Ashley McGregor (right) have been charged over the death of three-week-old Alvin.
The court was told that Denton used marijuana during Alvin’s pregnancy and McGregor had suggested that Alvin’s changes could be explained by cannabis withdrawal.
Denton blew cannabis smoke into the baby’s face.
A forensic psychologist analyzed Denton and Judge Soulio said the health professional had concluded that Denton was remorseful for her crime and experienced an ongoing “grief reaction.”
Denton, sitting in the dock, fought back tears during Judge Soulio’s comments.
His face shook with apparent pain as the details of Alvin’s injuries were read in court.
The court was told Denton took responsibility for what she had not done.
Judge Rauf Soulio said Denton (center) knew his son had suffered a traumatic event, but “at the time he did not seek any medical treatment for him.”
His psychological profile showed a person of low average intelligence with chronic low self-esteem, limited coping skills and a pathological fear of abandonment, Judge Soulio said.
Judge Soulio said he had to take into account public safety and the need for public denunciation and deterrence when handing down the sentence.
He also said rehabilitation could contribute to community safety.
He sentenced Denton to four years and six months in prison with a non-parole period of two years and six months, citing “exceptional circumstances”.
He ordered Denton to serve the sentence in house arrest.
Police have charged McGregor with manslaughter over Alvin’s death and he will face a judges-only trial in 2025.
Denton will testify on behalf of the prosecution at Mr McGregor’s trial.