A British nanny, Ms Manjit Basuta, wept yesterday as she was sentenced by a US court to 25 years to life in prison for causing the death of a baby in her care.
Judge William Kennedy handed down the sentence in a San Diego Court after hearing final arguments from both defence and prosecution lawyers.
The 44-year-old woman, formerly from Ascot, Berkshire, was convicted in June of shaking 13-month-old Oliver Smith to death in California.
She was convicted under a new Californian law, the Tyler-Jaeger Act, which states that anyone who assaults a child under eight using force likely to produce "great bodily injury" must serve a mandatory term of at least 25 years. Today was the first time the law has been tested.
Basuta, who also holds an Indian passport, had moved with her husband to California in 1989 when he was offered a job as an executive with a communications firm. Using her experience as a nurse, she opened a day nursery at the $750,000 home they bought in the Carmel Valley area of San Diego.
On March 17th last year Oliver, one of six children attending that day, suffered massive head injuries and died.
The jury trial revolved around whether or not Basuta had deliberately shaken Oliver so hard that he died, whether someone else was responsible for the violence, or whether the injuries had been caused accidentally.
Yesterday, the judge, who denied Basuta probation, summed up the case and described it as "tragic whichever side you're on". He said: "I consider that the application for probation would be unrealistic."
Judge Kennedy said that Basuta had a "dark side to her", adding that she was unlawfully in the US and had been the subject of deportation to England.
He went on: "This defendant has tried to lay the blame for this tragedy on just about everybody else." This led him to conclude that she was "insincere" and had misguided many people. Oliver's mother, Audrey Smith, made an emotional plea to the court before sentence was passed.
"I will mourn the loss of my child eternally," she said. "There will always be a void that only Oliver can fill.