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Daniel Gunter, who brutally killed his two-week-old son by crushing his skull before stepping outside for a cigarette, has been jailed for life.
Premature baby Brendon Statton suffered catastrophic injuries at the hands of his father while lying in his cot at the special care baby unit of Yeovil District Hospital in Somerset.
Nurses, working just a few metres away, discovered the infant with fatal head, neck, leg and jaw injuries after his mother, Sophie Staddon, noticed he felt cold and asked staff to check on him.
Despite desperate attempts to resuscitate the baby, he could not be saved.
Conviction and sentencing
Gunter, 27, denied harming Brendon on March 5, 2024, but was convicted of murder after a three-week trial. On October 3, he was sentenced at Bristol Crown Court to life in prison with a minimum term of 20 years.
Prosecutor Charles Row KC told the court:
“In plain language, his head had been crushed so as to shatter his skull. He was badly bruised from head to toe, with deep scratches in his neck. He was later found to have, amongst other injuries, a broken neck, a broken jaw, broken legs, broken ankles and broken wrists.”
By the time staff realised something was wrong, Gunter had already left the ward for a cigarette. Both he and Staddon were arrested while smoking outside the hospital.
Denials from parents
Gunter told officers:
“At no stage did I do anything to Brendon that could have caused him any injury. I would never hurt my baby boy.”
Staddon, 23, who was later cleared of causing or allowing the death of a child, also insisted:
“I had done nothing to harm Brendon at all. I love him. He was my everything.”
A post-mortem confirmed that Brendon had died from blunt force head injuries.
Police and court findings
Detective Chief Inspector Nadine Partridge of Avon and Somerset Police described Gunter as “selfish,” noting he laughed and joked while in the dock.
She told jurors that Gunter must have twisted and pulled the baby’s limbs, possibly gripping him by the legs and striking him against hard objects.
“You don’t want to imagine what happened to him in those last moments,” she said.
The court also heard that social services had been planning to remove Brendon from his parents’ care due to concerns over Gunter’s violence, controlling behaviour, Staddon’s health, and the couple’s precarious housing situation.
Troubled background
Gunter and Staddon, who had an unstable relationship, were homeless and living in temporary accommodation in a former Yeovil pub when she became pregnant.
Witnesses, including Gunter’s own relatives, said they saw him shouting at Brendon, handling him roughly, and ignoring medical advice—such as removing his feeding tube and overstimulating the premature baby.
His aunt, Louise Besica, recalled:
“I felt like he had no patience. He was really rough with him, even when putting him in his babygrow.”
Brendon, born prematurely at 33 weeks on February 20, 2024, weighing just 1.83kg, had already fought hard for survival before his life was cut short in the most brutal way imaginable.
