A Gloucestershire couple whose baby daughter died from severe head injuries have been jailed for two-and-a-half years.

Andrew Snee, 30, of Weston Road, Gloucester, and Sharon Brennan, 22, of North Cerney, were found guilty of causing cruelty to Chloe Snee at a trial last month.

Snee and Brennan were charged with the child's murder two months later at the start of November.

But during their hearing, a judge directed the jury at Bristol Crown Court to find the pair not guilty of murdering the four-month-old girl on the basis it could not be proved which one of them administered the fatal blows.

Snee and Brennan both blamed each other for the injuries.

Snee had the mental understanding of a five-year-old and Brennan was a schizophrenic who suffered violent mood swings. The former lovers were known to indulge in binge drinking and could not cope with the demands of a baby.

The court was told how doctors and health visitors had noticed a series of bruises, scabs and marks on the baby in the weeks before she died.

The post-mortem also revealed she had suffered three broken ribs and a fractured collar bone in the month before her death.

A meeting of social workers had been arranged to discuss Chloe's welfare on the day she died.

Social services have admitted procedures have been tightened up since Chloe's death.

Mr Justice Hooper said: "It's not possible to know which of you actually caused the injuries which are the subject matter of the cruelty charge. You are being sentenced on the basis that each of you failed to report what the other was doing.

"But for your lies and concealment I take the view that Chloe would probably be alive today, a factor that I'm entitled to take into account."

Used courtesy of the Gloucester Citizen