Jody and Antony Smith have been jailed for 10 years each after almost killing their 41-day-old baby boy.
Tony Smith Junior suffered life-threatening septicaemia and a string of other infections after his bones were broken in eight places in 2014.
His parents had carried out a string of ‘violent assaults’, including swinging the young baby by his ankles.
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As a result the infant had to have both of his legs amputated, and has now been left with lifelong disabilities.
However, his parents delayed taking the boy to the doctor for nine hours because they claimed they had to wait for a plumber to fix a broken boiler.
When he was eventually taken to the GP, he was gravely ill, with his eyes closed and his lower limbs hard and swollen.
After being admitted to intensive care, Tony pulled through – but now faces a lifetime of disability.
Mum Jody, 24, and dad Antony, 46, denied causing or allowing serious physical harm to a child and cruelty, but a jury at Maidstone Crown Court took less than an hour to find them guilty on Friday afternoon.
Jurors burst into tears on hearing a victim statement, and saw two photos of the boy as he is now.
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They then broke into spontaneous applause as Judge Philip Statman praised the boy’s adoptive parents as ‘absolute stars’, and the doctors who treated him as ‘utterly remarkable’.
The offence of causing or allowing serious harm to a child carries a maximum sentence of 10 years when the child survives.
‘I cannot remember a case, and sadly I have had to do too many cases involving doctors coming to court, where the level of care has been higher than this one,’ Judge Statman said.
‘I am tempted to say “Thank goodness for the NHS” because you know that poor baby was within seconds of death when taken to the doctor’s surgery.
‘Every single member of the health service who has come to treat him deserves the utmost praise.’
He added: ‘It is utterly remarkable that we have in our community those who foster children and those who look after them particularly when they have a disability. That shows the most wonderful compassion and caring side to the community in which we live.
‘Baby Tony’s adopted family are absolute stars. That is the only thing I think I can say. Absolute stars.’
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