Man jailed for murdering baby

A man who beat an eight- month-old baby to death with an iron because she would not stop crying was jailed for life at the Old Bailey yesterday. David Smith, 28, of Loughton, Essex, was left with Katie while her mother, Nancy Parnham, went out to do her cleaning job.

At first he denied the girl's murder and claimed he found her unconscious with a plastic bag over her head. He said he could not remember striking her and told a series of lies to police, changing his story to fit the facts.