Teen Babysitter Murdered Two-Year-Old Baby Girl

A teenage babysitter who battered a toddler to death while her mother popped out to the shops has been found guilty of murder.

Karl McCluney, 15, inflicted 68 injuries on two-year-old Demi Leigh Mahon because he was fed-up with her behaviour, Manchester Crown Court heard.

The boy, who admitted manslaughter, took her to a park before beating her at a house in Salford, Greater Manchester, on July 15, 2008.

The attack on Demi Leigh was so ferocious - she was punched repeatedly in the face - that she was left brain-damaged.

Pathologist Dr Naomi Carter said part of her scalp was also sheared off, most likely as a result of it coming into contact with a hard surface.

Demi Leigh had what doctors believe were bite marks on her right arm and back, and her ears were either pulled, pinched or kicked.

The toddler was left with McCluney by her mother Ann Marie McDonald for about 90 minutes, while she collected a child benefit cheque.

Ms McDonald returned to find the boy standing outside the house. She said he told her: "I picked her up - I might have hurt her - and she fell in the park."

The mother, known as Sindy, rushed inside and found her daughter lying on a bed.

Sobbing, she told the jury: "Her face was bruised. I tried to pick her up and her head flopped back. She couldn't breathe properly.

"I screamed 'Why haven't you rung an ambulance?'. He said 'I never done nothing, I've not done nothing'."

Demi Leigh was taken to hospital, where she was met by five doctors. Her parents were at her bedside when her life support machine was switched off two days later.

The jury heard that McCluney has never explained his attack on Demi Leigh but has alluded to the fact he was angry with her behaviour.

The boy from Eccles will be sentenced on July 31, 2009.