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Because parenting makes you a better person
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Because parenting makes you a better person August 10, 2007 |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/bradford/6940403.stm
Mother guilty of murdering girl
The judge has delayed sentencing on Wright and McKenzie-Seaton
A mother has been found guilty of murdering her four-year-old daughter in West Yorkshire.
After a four-week trial, a jury took less than five hours to find Sharon Wright, 23, guilty of murdering Leticia Wright, who died in November last year.
Wright's boyfriend, 22-year-old Peter McKenzie-Seaton, was also found guilty of murder at Bradford Crown Court.
The court heard how Leticia was found naked and suffering multiple injuries at her home in Almondbury Bank.
The judge, Mr Justice Walker, adjourned the case for a short time to decide whether sentencing could go ahead.
Window 'vigil'
During the four-week trial, the jury was told the youngster died in hospital after suffering "sustained, deliberate and brutal" abuse which left her with injuries equivalent to a major road traffic accident.
Her body was covered from head to toe in more than 100 injuries, which police believe were inflicted in the last four weeks of her life.
Leticia's 'unimaginable pain'
Wright blamed Seaton for the injuries, accusing him of going into a rage because he did not have any cannabis.
The court heard he smoked up to £140 worth of skunk - a potent form of the drug - every week.
Seaton, of Northallerton, North Yorkshire, admitted biting Leticia but denied causing the fatal injuries. He told the court he was never left to look after her alone.
In the weeks before the death, the girl was seen standing as if in a "vigil" at her bedroom window.
The girl looked sad but would smile and wave back at the neighbours who waved up at her.
Pink cup toy
The court heard two neighbours were so concerned they rang social services.
Two social workers from Kirklees Council visited the house and met Leticia and her mother.
Linda Blackie and Nicola Stephenson found Leticia to be of normal weight with no obvious marks, but she was initially quiet and when asked to fetch her toys she came back with hair grabs and a pink cup.
After checking back that Leticia had been registered with a local nursery, Leticia's file was closed.
She stopped attending the school after one week.
'I don't like Mummy'
The court heard that at one point Leticia complained to two of her aunts - the sisters of her natural father Zaheer Hussain - that Seaton would come to her room and smack her.
She also told them: "I don't like Mummy".
The worst violence is believed to have started after a visit from a health worker on 24 October, 2006.
Paul Johnson, head of safeguarding at Kirklees Council and a member of the Kirklees Safeguarding Children Board, defended the local authority's handling of the case.
He said a council review carried out by an "independent professional" concluded Leticia's death "could not have been foreseen.
But he conceded how "certain aspects could have been handled differently".
Mother guilty of murdering girl
The judge has delayed sentencing on Wright and McKenzie-Seaton
A mother has been found guilty of murdering her four-year-old daughter in West Yorkshire.
After a four-week trial, a jury took less than five hours to find Sharon Wright, 23, guilty of murdering Leticia Wright, who died in November last year.
Wright's boyfriend, 22-year-old Peter McKenzie-Seaton, was also found guilty of murder at Bradford Crown Court.
The court heard how Leticia was found naked and suffering multiple injuries at her home in Almondbury Bank.
The judge, Mr Justice Walker, adjourned the case for a short time to decide whether sentencing could go ahead.
Window 'vigil'
During the four-week trial, the jury was told the youngster died in hospital after suffering "sustained, deliberate and brutal" abuse which left her with injuries equivalent to a major road traffic accident.
Her body was covered from head to toe in more than 100 injuries, which police believe were inflicted in the last four weeks of her life.
Leticia's 'unimaginable pain'
Wright blamed Seaton for the injuries, accusing him of going into a rage because he did not have any cannabis.
The court heard he smoked up to £140 worth of skunk - a potent form of the drug - every week.
Seaton, of Northallerton, North Yorkshire, admitted biting Leticia but denied causing the fatal injuries. He told the court he was never left to look after her alone.
In the weeks before the death, the girl was seen standing as if in a "vigil" at her bedroom window.
The girl looked sad but would smile and wave back at the neighbours who waved up at her.
Pink cup toy
The court heard two neighbours were so concerned they rang social services.
Two social workers from Kirklees Council visited the house and met Leticia and her mother.
Linda Blackie and Nicola Stephenson found Leticia to be of normal weight with no obvious marks, but she was initially quiet and when asked to fetch her toys she came back with hair grabs and a pink cup.
After checking back that Leticia had been registered with a local nursery, Leticia's file was closed.
She stopped attending the school after one week.
'I don't like Mummy'
The court heard that at one point Leticia complained to two of her aunts - the sisters of her natural father Zaheer Hussain - that Seaton would come to her room and smack her.
She also told them: "I don't like Mummy".
The worst violence is believed to have started after a visit from a health worker on 24 October, 2006.
Paul Johnson, head of safeguarding at Kirklees Council and a member of the Kirklees Safeguarding Children Board, defended the local authority's handling of the case.
He said a council review carried out by an "independent professional" concluded Leticia's death "could not have been foreseen.
But he conceded how "certain aspects could have been handled differently".
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