Ukrainian woman from Most sentenced to eight years for abuse of newborn daughter
Ústí Region District Court sentenced a 28-year-old Ukrainian woman to eight years' imprisonment with strict regime on Friday for abusing her premature newborn daughter. The girl suffered fractures of the limbs, temporal bone and ribs.
Eight years for brutal beating of infant in Most
Ústí Region District Court sentenced a 28-year-old Ukrainian woman to eight years' deprivation of liberty in a prison with strict regime on Friday for abusing her own newborn daughter. As Novinky.cz reported, the woman pleaded guilty in court, so the main trial proceeded in abbreviated form. The verdict is not final — the accused appealed against the length of the sentence.
Court medical examiners established that the woman caused the child multiple fractures to the upper and lower limbs, a fracture to the parietal bone and fractures to several ribs in a flat in Most between November 2023 and February 2024. The newborn's body also showed bruising. According to experts, the child suffered the first injuries in the first month of life.
For grievous bodily harm inflicted on a child and abuse of a person in her care, she faced up to twelve years' imprisonment.
"It is a catastrophe," said the accused
"I know it is all my fault, that I must go to prison for it. What I have done is a catastrophe," the woman stated in court.
A guard from the remand prison escorted her into the courtroom. After the indictment was served on her about a year ago, she became frightened of the proposed nine-year sentence and fled to Ukraine. She was detained there after several months on the basis of a European arrest warrant.
During her testimony with the help of an interpreter, the woman described how she had arrived in the Czech Republic with her husband and son after the outbreak of war — she was already pregnant at that time. The birth was premature and her underdeveloped daughter spent several weeks in hospital. During visits, she said she felt nothing towards the baby.
As soon as she brought the child home, she could no longer cope with caring for the newborn or her then two-and-a-half-year-old son, according to her own account. "She kept crying, did not sleep at night. It was too much for me. I began to feel anger towards the child. I projected negative emotions onto my daughter," she admitted.
The woman denied that she had intentionally caused injuries to her daughter. She claimed they occurred through clumsy handling of the infant — for example during changing nappies. "It was uncontrolled aggression," she added. When asked by the judge how the child suffered fractures of larger bones, she was unable to provide a credible answer.
She also stated that she had sought professional help, which she was unable to obtain due to a language barrier. She found no support from her husband either.
Experts: no psychiatric disorder, but emotionally unstable
According to court experts, the woman does not suffer from a mental disorder and was not under the influence of alcohol or other addictive substances at the time of the offence. However, her cognitive and volitional capacities were substantially diminished. The expert recommended outpatient psychiatric treatment in view of emotional instability and anxiety tendencies.
The abuse was revealed by a medical examination. The girl and her older brother were taken from the mother; the woman was admitted to a psychiatric hospital.
Court: repeated and brutal conduct, not a single act of impulse
In justifying the length of the sentence, the judge stated that the admission of guilt was a mitigating factor. An aggravating factor, however, was the initial lack of self-reflection and an attempt to avoid criminal prosecution by fleeing.
"If it had been a single attack on the daughter in a moment of rage followed by immediate self-reflection, the court would have considered a lighter sentence. However, this was deliberate, brutal and repeated conduct against a defenceless infant," the judge emphasised.
The court also ordered outpatient psychiatric protective treatment. The woman must reimburse the insurance company for the costs of the child's treatment and pay compensation to her daughter for pain and suffering and non-pecuniary damages exceeding one million crowns.
According to doctors, the now three-year-old girl has no lasting consequences — all injuries have healed. She and her brother are growing up in the care of their biological father.
Source: Novinky.cz