ANGLESEY JOINER OWEN OWENS JAILED FOR MANSLAUGHTER OF GIRL HE ASSAULTED AS A BABY
Adoptive parents Dafydd Griffiths and Janice Robinson, from Bangor, said daughter Shauna Erin Griffiths’ life had been difficult and painful after the injuries she endured at the hands of joiner Owain Huw Owen, who had already served three years in jail for the offence.The 35-year-old, of Penysarn, Amlwch, on Anglesey, shook Shauna violently after losing his temper while babysitting the child when she was still being cared for by her natural mother in June 2001.
At seven months old she was left with a broken arm, brain damaged and blinded by the assault.
Owen was handed a three-year jail term in 2001 for grievous bodily harm.
But in August 2007 Shauna died as a result of the injuries she suffered as a baby and Owen was brought back to court where he admitted manslaughter.
Sentencing Owen to a year in jail at Mold Crown Court yesterday Judge John Rogers, QC, said the defendant had made positive steps to rebuild his life following his original conviction in 2001.
In a statement read by North Wales Police detective superintendent Wayne Jones, the child’s adoptive parents called Shauna “courageous” and their “queen”.
“Shauna deserved justice and we wanted to be here for her today.
“Shauna lived seven years with the injuries Owen inflicted upon her and she had a hard life.
“She was a very courageous girl and we called her our queen.
“We feel very honoured to have looked after her and to have been her parents.
“Shauna was a joy and we enjoyed and cherished every moment we spent with her.” Judge Rogers said the joiner had effectively already served three years for the harm he did to Shauna and deserved credit for an early guilty plea to the manslaughter charge.
He said the case was very different from the child abuse stories that have dominated the media in recent months, where parents or carers have harmed youngsters over extended periods.
The judge said Owen was a man of good character who had lost his temper in an isolated outburst.
He said: “No prison sentence can begin to compensate for the loss of that young person’s life and no sentence could provide consolation for her loving parents.” The judge added that had Owen been sentenced for manslaughter in 2001 he would have faced four to five years in jail.
As a result there was an “arithmetical discrepancy” of one to two years.
But the judge chose to ignore a probation service recommendation that Owen be handed a suspended sentence.
He added: “I have to bear in mind the consequence was the death of this child.” Det Supt Jones said it was the first time North Wales Police has used the abolition of the “year and a day rule” to bring a prosecution involving a death resulting from a historic injury.
