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NANNY GETS 25 YEARS' JAIL FOR KILLING BABY British nanny Manjit Basuta wept tonight as she was jailed for 25 years to life at a US court after causing the death of a baby in her care. Judge William Kennedy handed down the sentence in a San Diego Court - a decision that was met with shock and anger by her relatives back in the UK. He said he had considered probation for Basuta but decided it was unrealistic because she would have been deported back to Britain and the probation could not be monitored. Basuta, 44, formerly from Ascot, Berks, was convicted by a jury 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 had been tested. In summing up, Judge Kennedy referred to the case of British nanny Louise Woodward who, he said, was convicted of second degree murder of a baby in Massachusetts and the judge there decided to show leniency. "The judge felt in that case that he had the discretion and used that to reduce the sentence in that case. "The murder charge in this case was dismissed in a motion of the prosecution's before the case commenced. "It is California, our law is different. "The Massachusetts judge's action sets no precedent for me in this case today."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 (�470,000) home they bought in the Carmel Valley area of San Diego. On March 17 last year Oliver, one of six children attending that day, suffered massive head injuries and died. The 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. Tonight the judge summed up the case and described it as "tragic whichever side you're on". Basuta, dressed in black, sat between two lawyers weeping, clutching a handkerchief and with her head in her hands. Before sentence was passed, Oliver's mother, Audrey Smith, said: "I will mourn the loss of my child eternally. "There will always be a void that only Oliver can fill. There is something that has died in me also, so in that respect Mrs Basuta has also killed part of me." 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 said the court had been "quite disturbed" by documents submitted by Basuta to immigration officials under oath in 1994. In them, he said, she detailed a life in India where she was subjected to violent torture and rape before requesting political asylum in the US. But he said that it had now come to light that she never lived in India and that she was living elsewhere during the time she claimed she was being tortured. The judge was also critical of her conduct and said: "At no time during her interview with the probation officer ... did the defendant show any remorse or concern for the victim or his family. This has troubled me." He added: "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. Basuta's relatives, who had gathered at the Sikh temple in Slough, Berks, were left stunned by the sentence. Choking back tears, her brother Amarjit Singh vowed an appeal would be launched. He said: "The only comparison I can make at this sentence is to Myra Hindley who has been given life yet the comparison of the two crimes are so polarised." He said Hindley had murdered children and that his sister, who was innocent, had been given the same sentence. "How can this be justice?" he asked. Lawyer John Cooper added: "We will now be going to the Government asking for their support in this campaign. "We have seen the course things have taken in America and we'll be looking to Tony Blair to intervene on behalf of Manjit." Stephen Jakobi, from Fair Trials Abroad, said: "What is very important is that this was a deeply flawed trial and when people look at the sentence it is quite obvious that the case is eminently appealable." |
