OWAIN OWEN'S SENTENCE APPEAL REJECTED IN ANGLESEY

In March 2009, Owain Owen's appeal against his sentence was dismissed by top judges. Owen, a 35-year-old from Penysarn, Amlwch, Anglesey, had previously admitted to manslaughter and inflicting grievous bodily harm on Shauna Erin Griffiths, the girl he had shaken as a baby. He was originally sentenced to three years in prison in 2001 after pleading guilty to causing severe injuries to Shauna, who was the daughter of his ex-girlfriend.

Shauna died in August 2007 at the age of seven, after suffering from injuries sustained years earlier. Owen had shaken her violently in June 2000, in Porthmadog, which resulted in her becoming blind, brain-damaged, and in a coma, as well as breaking her arm. Her adoptive parents, Dafydd Griffiths and Janice Robinson, had been with her when she passed away. She was being transported home from hospital for her final days when she died, with her adoptive parents following in the ambulance.

Lady Justice Hallett, presiding over London’s Appeal Court, explained that paramedics had halted the ambulance to allow Shauna’s adoptive parents to say a final goodbye. “She never made the journey home,” the judge remarked, also commending the adoptive parents for their care.

Owen, a joiner by profession, was convicted of manslaughter in January after a trial. The trial court accepted that his actions were in a moment of sudden loss of control and acknowledged his efforts to reform his life since the incident. However, the judge decided that a custodial sentence was necessary due to the seriousness of his crime. Owen appealed his 12-month prison sentence, arguing that a suspended sentence would have been more appropriate. However, Lady Justice Hallett, along with Mr Justice Openshaw and Judge Francis Gilbert QC, rejected his case.

The court emphasized that the purpose of his imprisonment was to mark the death of Shauna, punish Owen for destroying her quality of life, and hold him accountable for her death. “He always knew that, if Shauna should die of the injuries he inflicted, he might be called to serve the rest of his deserved punishment,” she stated, underlining the gravity of his actions.