By Julia Banim

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Evil dad Daniel Gunter “crushed” the skull of his own newborn son before heading outside for a cigarette. Premature baby Brendon Statton was just two weeks old when the thug attacked him in his cot at Yeovil District Hospital’s special care baby unit in Somerset, inflicting “catastrophic injuries” to his head, neck, legs and jaw. Nurses were said to be working just five metres away when he carried out the despicable act, breaking the baby’s neck in an unthinkable rampage. Gunter, 27, denied harming the vulnerable infant on March 5 last year, but was ultimately convicted of murder following a three-week trial. Today, Gunter has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 20 years, with details of his crime sparking horror almost beyond belief. Bristol Crown Court previously heard how nurses at the unit tried desperately to resuscitate tiny Brendon, after finding him with horrific injuries. The court heard how the child’s grave condition was discovered after his mother, Sophie Staddon, told nurses that he was cold and asked them to check on him. Recalling the devastating scene, Charles Row KC, prosecuting, told the trial: “Staff found him lying in his cot with his baby grow open. They immediately saw that he wasn’t just cold but that he had suffered catastrophic injuries. “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 terribly wrong, evil Gunter had already walked out of the unit for a cigarette, leaving his son with fatal injuries. The prosecution said that staff carried Brendon’s “limp, lifeless body” to the resuscitation area, but the baby tragically did not respond to treatment. Gunter and Staddon, 23, were arrested by the police while smoking outside the hospital. Gunter told police officers: “At no stage did I do anything to Brendon that could have caused him any injury. I was with Sophie the whole time, and she didn’t do anything either.” In a separate statement, he said: “I would never hurt my baby boy.” The baby’s mother, who was cleared of causing or allowing the death of a child, told officers: “I had done nothing to harm Brendon at all. I love him. He was my everything. I would not have harmed him.” A post-mortem examination determined that Brendon died of “blunt force impact(s) head injury” with multiple non-accidental head injuries. During the trial, DCI Nadine Partridge, of Avon and Somerset police , described Gunter as selfish and criticised the defendant for laughing and joking while in the dock, The Guardian reports. Brendon, who’d been born prematurely at 33 weeks’ gestation, weighing just 1.83kg at birth, had already faced many hurdles in his short life, which ended in the most brutal way imaginable. Ms Partridge told the court that Gunter must have twisted and pulled at the newborn’s limbs, and may have even gripped him by the legs, striking him against hard objects. She said: “You don’t want to imagine what happened to him in those last moments”. Although Gunter has not given any explanation for the murder, officers believe he could have been motivated by the fear that his then partner, Staddon, might move to a mother and baby unit, where there would be no available accommodation for him. Gunter and Staddon, who had an on-off relationship, had been homeless and living in temporary accommodation in a former Yeovil pub when she became pregnant with Brendon. The court heard how Gunter had been “violent” towards Staddon, controlling her finances as well as who she could talk to. A social worker who visited the couple in January 2024 advised them that authorities were planning to remove the child from their care after the birth. Telling jurors how the couple displayed no emotion at this news, Mr Row said: “The authorities were concerned about many things, including their precarious housing situation, the way Mr Gunter appeared to control Ms Staddon and her finances, Ms Staddon’s physical and mental health and their lack of engagement.” Before Brendon’s death, both social services and Gunter’s family had reportedly also expressed concern about the “lack of emotional warmth” the couple showed their baby, who was born on February 20, 2024. Although attempts were made to persuade Staddon to remain in the hospital, she chose to return to the accommodation she and Gunter shared. Gunter repeatedly ignored the nurses’ advice at the unit, taking Brendon out of his incubator without asking, overstimulating the newborn to the point of causing him distress and removing his nasal gastric tube. Family members had witnessed Gunter shouting and getting angry with Brendon during hospital visits, and recalled seeing him handling the child roughly. Louise Besica, Gunter’s aunt, recalled: “I felt like he had no patience. He was really rough with him with how he was putting him in his babygrow.” Do you have a story to share? Email me at julia.banim@reachplc.com If you are affected by this story and need support, contact the Samaritans on 116 123, email them at jo@samaritans.org or visit samaritans.org to find your nearest branch.