Christopher Phillips – Burton

WARNING – Distressing content

A horrible bully got “sadistic enjoyment” from seriously injuring a two-month-old baby as he raped him.

Christopher Phillips, 34, of Kiln Park in Burton, was found guilty at trial of a series of sexual and violent offences against a baby – referred to as Baby C – committed in January 2021.

The jury heard the 10-week-old was taken to Glangwili Hospital with a “gaping tear in his anus” in the early hours of January 24, 2021.

An examination found the baby also had a fractured ankle and wrist, six fractured ribs, a bleed on the brain, and a swollen testicle.

Prosecutor Caroline Rees KC said it was “no coincidence” the baby started suffering injuries and leaving blood in his nappy after Phillips came into his life.

Phillips “demanded” to be allowed to change the baby’s nappy unsupervised, and “pestered and pestered” the mum to leave her child alone with him.

“Why would he – a man of 29 at the time, not that baby’s father – want that unfettered access?,” Ms Rees asked.

She added Phillips “clearly had a fascination with anal penetration”.

The court heard Phillips met the child’s mother on dating app Tinder in 2020 and met the baby when only a month old.

Dr Louise Newbury, a consultant paediatrician, said the baby was “in extreme distress” at the hospital and required two episodes of morphine. She said she could “count on one hand” the number of times she had given morphine to a child that young in her 25-year career.

Dr Newbury said the injuries were most likely caused by penetrative blunt force trauma of the baby’s anus.

Phillips was found guilty of two offences of sexual assault by penetration, two offences of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, and one of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

He was found not guilty of two offences of causing GBH with intent and of two alternative offences of inflicting GBH – relating to the baby’s fractured wrist and ankle.

John Hipkin KC, appearing for Phillips, said: “There is no mitigation with respect to the offences.”

He said the defendant now accepted he had caused the baby’s injuries, and it was accepted Phillips would – at the very least – be classified as a dangerous offender.

Judge Paul Thomas KC described the case as the “most distressing” he had dealt with in his more than 40-year career in the crown court.

“What you did to that eight to ten week old baby plumbed the depths of sexual depravity,” he said.

“That utterly defenceless baby had his bottom ripped open.

“You got sadistic enjoyment out of what you were doing to the baby.”

He sentenced Phillips to life imprisonment, and ordered him to register as a sex offender indefinitely.

Phillips will serve 16 years and eight months, less the time he’s already spent on remand, before being eligible for release.

The baby’s mother was also on trial, charged with allowing her child to suffer serious physical harm and child cruelty/neglect.

The prosecution argued she had “failed in her duty to keep her baby safe” by allowing Phillips unsupervised access.

However, she was acquitted of all charges by the jury and discharged from the dock during the trial