Mother sentenced for daughter's murder
A woman who inflicted a skull fracture on her seven-week-old daughter, who later died at age two, has been sentenced to a minimum of 19 years in prison for murder.
Sarah Ngaba, formerly residing in Telford, Shropshire, was convicted of murdering her daughter Eliza following a trial held in May.
Ngaba, aged 32, admitted to causing
"dreadful, life-shortening and life-limiting"head injuries to Eliza in 2019 but denied the charge of murder after Eliza's death in 2022.
On Friday, Birmingham Crown Court sentenced Ngaba to life imprisonment. Considering time already served, the judge ruled she must serve a minimum of 12 years and 154 days in custody.
Details of the case and injuries
During the May trial, the court heard that Eliza died due to a respiratory infection, which she was vulnerable to because of the skull fracture. Ngaba was already serving a 14-year sentence for the assault that caused the injury.
Ngaba was imprisoned in May 2021 for the assault, after which Eliza was placed into foster care.
The assault resulted in a severe head injury that left Eliza profoundly disabled and susceptible to serious infections.
Evidence presented to the jury demonstrated that Eliza would not have succumbed to the respiratory infection if she had not been rendered vulnerable by the injuries inflicted by Ngaba 33 months earlier.
