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Dad, 16, who bit his babys nose and shook him to death jailed for life

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A 16-year-old father who bit his babys nose before violently swinging him to death has been jailed for life.

Neighbours recalled hearing blood-curdling screams as Doulton Phillips killed his son Reggie in a drink-fuelled rage.

The teenager, now 17, could be named for the first time after jurors found him guilty of murder.

ID'd by photographer and reporter in court. Pictured (NOT TODAY): Doulton Phillips A teenage father was today convicted of murdering his six-week-old son after he bit the baby's nose before violently swinging him by the legs. Doulton Phillips, 17, can be identified for the first time today as a judge lifted a ban preventing his identity from being published after he was convicted of murdering his infant son Reggie. A court heard Phillips - who was 16 at the time - took class A drug ecstasy at a party hours before returning home and brutally assaulting the tragic tot. Helpless Reggie was left with catastrophic fatal injuries after his father bit him on the nose and swung him by the leg. SEE OUR COPY FOR MORE DETAILS. ? Solent News & Photo Agency UK +44 (0) 2380 458800

Doulton Phillips bit his babys nose before violently swinging him to death (Picture: Solent)

His identity was protected while he stood trial alongside his girlfriend Alannah Skinner, 19, the babys mother.

Skinner, who was 18 at the time, was jailed for 30 months after being found guilty of child cruelty for failing to protect or seek help for her baby.

Phillips fractured the babys skull and ribs, leaving him with a broken leg and bruises, a court heard.

The deliberate attack happened in the early hours of February 11 at Skinners one-room flat in Southampton after they spent the night drinking vodka and beer at a neighbours party.

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Prosecutor Adam Feest QC said the series of injuries showed how the baby met with a violent end.

Undated handout photo issued by Hampshire Constabulary of Doulton Phillips who has been found guilty of the murder at Winchester Crown Court of his seven-week-old son, Reggie, after he bit his on the nose and shook him violently. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Thursday December 20, 2018. The teenager, now 17, can be named for the first time after jurors convicted him following three days of deliberations. His identity was protected while he stood trial alongside his girlfriend Alannah Skinner, 19, who can now also be named. See PA story COURTS Infant. Photo credit should read: Hampshire Constabulary/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.

Doulton Phillips, now 17, has been jailed for life (Picture: PA)

Residents across the road recall hearing what they described as a blood-curdling or painful scream coming from the flat at about 3am, he added.

One neighbour heard a gut-wrenching cry of pain coming from a baby and the sort of screaming that turned her stomach, he said.

When the baby was taken to hospital, Phillips told a neighbour: What have I done?

But he later claimed to police that Reggie accidentally fell from the sofa when having his nappy changed, or fell from his arms while the couple were arguing.

Mr Feest said the explanation could not account for the severity or multiplicity of the injuries sustained.

He added: They are more in keeping with a violent shaking or swinging, or indeed both.

Undated handout photo issued by Hampshire Constabulary of Reggie Phillips whose father, Doulton, has been found guilty of his murder at Winchester Crown Court after he bit his seven-week-old on the nose and shook him violently. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Thursday December 20, 2018. The teenager, now 17, can be named for the first time after jurors convicted him following three days of deliberations. His identity was protected while he stood trial alongside his girlfriend Alannah Skinner, 19, who can now also be named. See PA story COURTS Infant. Photo credit should read: Hampshire Constabulary/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.

Reggie Phillips was shaken to death (Picture: PA)

The nature is such that the person inflicting them must have intended to cause really serious injuries or death.

Justice Robin Spencer sentenced Phillips for life with a minimum of 15 years, and told him: The injuries you inflicted on this six week old baby were truly appalling.

The jury were spared the photographs of his injuries. I regarded it as my duty to look at them.

Your own description of his visible injuries when you saw him and held him at hospital after he had died, was that he looked as though he had been beaten up. That was an apt description.

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Such wicked cruelty towards a helpless tiny baby is almost beyond belief but Im satisfied that it must be the reality of what happened.

BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE Undated handout file photo issued by Hampshire Constabulary of Alannah Skinner, who has been found guilty of the murder at Winchester Crown Court of his seven-week-old son, Reggie, after her boyfriend Doulton Phillips bit him on the nose and shook him violently. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Friday December 21, 2018. Her identity was protected while she stood trial alongside his 17-year-old boyfriend who can now also be named for the first time after jurors convicted him following three days of deliberations. See PA story COURTS Infant. Photo credit should read: Hampshire Constabulary/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.

Alannah Skinner, 19, was jailed for 30 months (Picture: PA)

ID'd by photographer and reporter in court. Pictured (NOT TODAY): Alannah Skinner A teenage father was today convicted of murdering his six-week-old son after he bit the baby's nose before violently swinging him by the legs. Doulton Phillips, 17, can be identified for the first time today as a judge lifted a ban preventing his identity from being published after he was convicted of murdering his infant son Reggie. A court heard Phillips - who was 16 at the time - took class A drug ecstasy at a party hours before returning home and brutally assaulting the tragic tot. Helpless Reggie was left with catastrophic fatal injuries after his father bit him on the nose and swung him by the leg. SEE OUR COPY FOR MORE DETAILS. ? Solent News & Photo Agency UK +44 (0) 2380 458800

Alannah Skinner, now 19, (right) was found guilty of child cruelty for failing to protect or seek help for her baby (Picture: Solent)

The trial heard he pushed his girlfriend to the ground during a row while she was still pregnant, which left her with grazes on her face, and made abusive phone calls, calling her a slut and a slag and claiming the child was not his.

He told the court he had memory problems and did not remember returning to her flat after drinking Corona and Budweiser lager as well as vodka before taking the drug MDMA.

Skinner was captured on camera in hospital saying the baby had fallen accidentally, and told a court she did not think the child needed immediate medical attention.

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Justice Robin Spencer told Skinner: You knew what Doulton Phillips could be like when he drank spirits and became jealous. It was, as the prosecution put it, a toxic mix.

I do not accept that when you saw the injury the blood had already dried up, nor do I accept that you knew nothing of and played no part in the cleaning of the blood and the changing of Reggies baby-grow as each garment in turn became bloodstained.

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However much you actually saw or heard of the fatal injuries being inflicted, you willfully neglected Reggie by failing to protect him when you knew his father had already injured him grievously.

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