Sadistic man jailed for torturing, breaking bones of helpless infant

The mother of a five-month-old baby girl was suspected of inflicting multiple injuries sustained by the infant. However, 32-year-old Millbrook, Cornwall resident Stephen Foster turned himself in, claiming that he twisted the child's arm and leg until her bones broke. The Plymouth Crown Court heard how the child sustained injuries similar to a car crash victim in the hands of Foster. Foster was sentenced to over six years behind bars after the court found him guilty of causing grievous bodily harm.

In 2018, the infant's mother was worried when she would not stop crying. After calling 999, the child was taken to a hospital where she was diagnosed with multiple injuries. The doctors first noticed a spiral fracture at the top of the child's left thigh bone. The upper arm bone and forearm bone were also fractured. Noticing a bruise on her chest, the doctors examined the child's full body to find three of her ribs fractured as well.

Two days after the discovery of the infant's injuries, Foster turned himself in for harming the child. Foster admitted that on 15 September 2018, he had bent the baby's left arm behind her head. He also pulled her left leg backwards under her body while pulling her other arm behind the leg.

Foster admitted that he caused grievous bodily harm with intent in September. He also confessed to breaking the child's ribs by crushing her, months before he broke her limbs. However, he claimed that the injuries caused to the ribs were unintentional.

Plymouth Live reported that Foster's psychiatric report concluded that he showed no signs of mental illness but had poor stress management skills. Foster was unable to explain why he grotesquely manipulated the child's body, leaving her in pain.

Jailing Foster for six years and eight months, Judge Paul Darlow condemned the attack on the "particularly vulnerable" child. Darlow added that psychiatrist had described Foster's attack "purposeless." The trauma caused to the child's body is akin to that seen in car crash victims.