A MAN who shook a baby, causing her to suffer a bleed to the brain, told police officers: “It wasn’t full-on aggression, but it wasn’t a pansy shake either.”

James Rench said he “panicked” in the moments before shaking the child, who was less than 12 months old at the time of the offence.

The girl, who cannot be identified, sustained extensive bruising to her torso, face and head, as well as the injury to her brain.

It is still not known if she will suffer developmental setbacks when she reaches school age.

Prosecuting at Bournemouth Crown Court, Timothy Bradbury said the child was rushed to Poole Hospital after she was shaken on either September 28 or 29 2015.

"The baby was plainly unwell," he said.

"She was floppy and at some stage it seems she had vomited.

"She was taken to A&E."

A consultant paediatrician and safeguarding consultant for the hospital ordered x-rays and a CT scan.

Although the child had no broken bones, it was found that she had suffered a brain injury which appeared to have been caused by "rapid acceleration and deceleration," the court heard.

"The doctor concluded that the nature of the injury must have been caused by forceful and severe shaking," Mr Bradbury said.

Over the following days, the child's condition worsened, and she suffered fits.

However, she has made a slow recovery and now shows no obvious ill-effects from her ordeal, Mr Bradbury added.

When Rench, 35, was first quizzed by police, he told officers the "grizzly" baby had "a bit of a paddy on the floor".

"He referred to her at some stage lifting her head and it dropping on the floor, not with great force," Mr Bradbury said.

"She then went floppy and had been sick.

"He panicked and accidentally placed his hand under her throat in an attempt to clear her airway.

"In essence, he was unable to give a satisfactory explanation for the injuries suffered by the child."

Around a week later, the defendant voluntarily spoke with police again.

On this occasion, he accepted causing the injuries and said the child had become sick while in his care.

He then "panicked" and shook the little girl.

"He said this wasn't done in a violent manner and he deeply regretted the injuries it was now evident she had sustained," said Mr Bradbury.

Rench went on to tell police he had shaken the child at a "five or six" from a scale of one to ten, where ten is the hardest he could possibly have shaken her.

Mitigating, Andy Houston said the defendant's actions were "reckless rather than intentional".

"He must have succumbed to an element of significant panic," Mr Houston said.

Rench, who loves children and had hoped to have children of his own, has made a suicide attempt since the incident, the court heard.

The defendant, of Portesham Way in Poole, admitted a single count of child cruelty.

Judge Peter Johnson said: "We must not forget how vulnerable this young baby was."

Sentencing Rench to 12 months in prison, Judge Johnson said: "This was a serious assault on an extremely vulnerable young child."

The defendant will serve around half of his sentence. When he is released, he must comply with a 12-month supervision order.