Richard Albert Newland jailed for eight years for the manslaughter death of ex-partner’s nine-month-old son

A father-of-six who struck his ex-partner’s baby boy on the head leaving him with a traumatic brain injury but then lied about how the youngster got hurt has been jailed for eight years. Richard Albert Newland claimed the nine-month-old, who died a day after he was hit, had fallen out of his cot while he was looking after him in September 2016. And for three years, Newland managed to maintain that lie until he was charged by police with the baby’s death after his ex came forward with information. During his sentencing hearing, WA’s Supreme Court was told the child’s mother, who was living with Newland – a meth and cannabis user - had left her son in his care while she briefly stepped out to withdraw cash from an ATM. When she returned to her South Hedland home she found Newland carrying out CPR on her boy. When asked what happened he claimed the child injured himself after falling out of his cot. But the court was told the now 32-year-old, who was coming down from the meth he had consumed the day before, had become frustrated with the child’s crying and either struck him on the head with an object or smashed the boy’s head against one. Newland then removed the boy’s clothes in what Justice Stephen Hall said was an attempt to conceal his crime and called triple-0 but lied about how the boy was injured. The court was told the pair then took the child to the Hedland Health Campus. He was then transferred to Princess Margaret Hospital where it was revealed he had severe brain swelling and was declared brain dead. His mother then made the heartbreaking decision to switch off her son’s life support. In the midst of her grief, Newland then persuaded her to tell police they were both home that fateful day and had placed him in his cot then later found him on the floor. A year later in 2017, after the couple broke up, the mother told police she had lied about her whereabouts that day prompting police to launch an investigation. Newland was charged with the child’s murder in 2019 but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter in February last year. In sentencing Newland, Justice Hall took into account his guilty plea, his genuine remorse and his deprived childhood — the court was told Newland grew up in an environment where drug use and violence was normalised. He also said his offending was not pre-meditated but was the result of his anger in the context of his meth use. But he said Newland, who was the only adult in the house that day, failed in his duties to care and protect the boy adding there no more a vulnerable victim than a nine-month-old child. He also said almost immediately after he hurt the boy, he tried to conceal what he had done and convinced his ex to lie to help protect him. He jailed Newland for eight years, backdated his sentence to May 2019 and made him eligible for parole after serving six.