Viewers were left horrified after a mother accused of child cruelty was found guilty, in a groundbreaking programme – the first of its kind on UK TV.
Kenzey, 23, allowed Channel 5 cameras to follow her as she prepared for her trial and the jury’s verdict after she was charged with two serious offences for failing to protect her seven-week-old daughter. The former charity worker was arrested in November 2014, after her baby was found with a fractured skull, bleeding on the brain, and severe eye damage. Kenzey had left her child with her boyfriend Kyle who she knew could be violent. She also failed to call an ambulance urgently when she could see her daughter was in pain and distressed.
Viewers watched as Kenzey spent months defending her innocence and that of Kyle, the father of her baby – before they were both convicted. They were appalled that Kenzey showed more concern for her boyfriend than her daughter who has been left brain damaged and branded the pair ‘evil’. They blasted their sentences as lenient.
In dramatic scenes aired on Monday night Kenzey was convicted and sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison – while her boyfriend Kyle was jailed for 18.
Kyle, the father of Kenzey’s baby, maintained his innocence, but was slammed as ‘evil’ by horrified viewers who said his sentencing was too lenient
Before the verdict, Kenzey protested: ‘That does not make me an abusive person, ’cause I’m not. If they think that, then they think we’re monsters.’ Filmmaker Rob McCabe said he wanted to expose what goes through the minds of those who have committed serious crimes. Viewers were invited to form their own judgement before the verdicts were read out, while Kenzey was questioned by her legal team. Kenzey was eventually found guilty of child cruelty, for not calling the emergency services quickly enough once it was clear the baby was unwell. Meanwhile Kyle was found guilty of two counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, with a sentence of 18 years. Kenzey had denied seeing her boyfriend Kyle shake their baby daughter and stuck by him throughout, even after he was charged.
It was her unwavering belief that contributed to her conviction, according to her lawyer Ronnie Manek.
‘Kyle professed his innocence saying “it wasn’t me” and I think she believed her boyfriend and didn’t want to be seen to attack his character,’ Ronnie explained following the verdicts.’
And her misguided loyalty to him is what caused her to be convicted. Kenzey was so adamant of her innocence that she claimed: ‘I don’t feel like a human being. The way I’m being spoken about, the way I’m being judged on this earth. If people think that Kyle or I have done something, then you’re looking at a couple of monsters – someone you can compare to Ian Huntley, Myra Hindley or Fred and Rose West.
But viewers were far from sympathetic, suggesting that she must have known what happened to her daughter – even before the verdicts were announced.
TIMELINE OF THE CASE
By Natalie Corner For Mailonline
Source dailymail.co.uk
Hi i honestly did not know what to make of this zosh. I thought she should have known the baby was at risk and she should have been more up front in the way she spoke about her boyfriend, she obviously lied when she said he never hit her, So she deserves the jail time she should have protected her baby xx