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Harlow Collinge turned nine months old. Photo: Lancashire Police
Nine-month-old Harlow Collinge fell out of her highchair and began to cry in despair. Then the nanny shook the boy so violently that he died – and then blamed him for choking on pasta.
– This monster, Karen Foster, deserves nothing. I hope her actions haunt her, the mother told the court.
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Imprisonment for twelve years and seven months. It was the punishment for British 62-year-old Karen Foster, after she admitted killing nine-month-old Harlow Collinge, to whom she was a nanny.
According to Foster’s confession, she allegedly became so frustrated by the child’s crying that she began “vigorously” shaking him. According to the X-ray of the boy’s head, he had suffered bleeding on both sides of the brain and the cause of death was traumatic brain injury, reports Sky News.
– I think he’s suffocating, he’s had some sort of seizure and he’s not breathing, Foster had said in the emergency call, according to the court.
Harlow Collinge died after four days of emergency care in hospital.
“He was a happy, healthy, much-loved boy,” said Judge Barry Cotter during Friday’s hearing.
Seeking assistance for going to the toilet Karen Foster is sentenced to prison for twelve years and seven months. Photo: Lancashire Police
According to the court, the 62-year-old allegedly had an illness and pain in a hip that meant she was not fit to work as a daycare provider. In addition, she worked more than the law allowed.
– You should have been a safe pair of hands for Collinge to entrust her precious child to, said the judge.
The nanny is said to have applied for personal assistance for herself just days after the boy’s death. In the application, she must have said that she needed help with cooking and going to the toilet.
Was about to transfer the boy
As Foster was led out of the courtroom, the boy’s family was heard shouting “nasty bitch” and “I hate you”.
Mum Gemma Collinge expressed her remorse at leaving her son in the hands of the daycare.
– How can I explain that I am losing my son under such terrible circumstances? Harlow was enjoying her little life. He was a happy, smiling baby.
The mother reportedly had plans to move her son to a preschool just weeks after he was placed with the daycare, but did not have time to act before it was too late.
The lie: Put pasta in the throat
At the hospital, Foster is said to have comforted the mother and claimed that the boy had put pasta down his throat, reports BBC.
– She even put her arms around me. I can’t think of anything worse. It is despicable, said Gemma Collinge, concluding:
– I blame myself every day for my son’s death. This monster, Karen Foster, deserves nothing. I hope her actions haunt her.