A mum who was found guilty of stomping her toddler to death in a fit of rage had had her sentence shortened after a court appeal.
Baby Ayeeshia, 21-months-old, was killed by her mother, Kathryn Smith, 24, after months of beatings, court heard.
The official cause of death was lacerations to the heart, which is reportedly only found in car crash victim.
During her short life she had also suffered a bleed on the brain, a bruise to her spine, several broken ribs, and abrasions to her body.
During the trial Smith and Ayeeshia’s stepdad, Matthew Rigby, were each blaming the other for the condition of the toddler and her eventual death.
Smith denied having a role in her daughter’s death and appealed the conviction. Central to her appear was the argument that Ayeeshia’s weight was misreported which made it appear as though her weight dramatically plunged while in her mother’s care.
Smith’s barrister has argued that the misinterpretation of medical informant has meant that Smith looked much more guilty than Rigby.
As a result, Smith was charged with murder, and Rigby went to jail for three-and-half-years for allowing the toddler’s death but was not found guilty of causing it.
At Smith’s original sentencing Mrs Justice Andrews told Smith she was ‘a devious, manipulative, selfish, young woman who would stop at nothing to get your own way.’
Lord Chief Justice Lord Thomas heard the appeal, which was against Smith’s murder conviction and said there was plenty of evidence to support the guilty verdict.
The minimum jail term, however, was reduced from 24 years to 19 years, taking into consideration the misreporting of Ayeeshia’s weight which may have caused bias against Smith.
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