Partner of baby killer has sentence reduced on appeal

A man who was jailed after his partner murdered her 11-week-old baby has had his prison sentence reduced by the Court of Appeal.

Malik Goncalves was found dead with multiple injuries at his mother's flat in Harlow, Essex, in August 2020.

Eloddie Goncalves, 36, was sentenced to a minimum 17-year life sentence in 2023, following a six-week trial at Chelmsford Crown Court.

However, in a judgment handed down on Wednesday, the Court of Appeal ruled that Goncalves' partner, Muritala Olaiya-Imam, would have his sentence for allowing the death of a child reduced from 10 years to seven.

Goncalves was subject to a social services safety plan at the time of Malik's death, stipulating she must not drink alcohol or be left alone with him.

At their sentencing hearing three years ago, the pair were told they "deliberately misled social services", with the judge adding: "Malik was a blameless and defenceless baby who depended on adults for everything."

According to court documents, a judgment found that Olaiya-Imam's "failure to take appropriate steps in relation to [Goncalves'] consumption of alcohol persisted over a longer period of time".

The court reconsidered whether his level of culpability was correctly placed in a higher sentence category. It deemed his "awareness of the serious risk to Malik" only arose a few days before the child's death, after an earlier injury.

Following hearings last month, appeal court judges Lord Justice Jeremy Baker, Mr Justice Calver and His Honour Judge Simon concluded "there was not a prolonged pattern of cruelty or neglect" - and the original 10-year sentence was quashed and replaced with seven years.

Olaiya-Imam - who was told during the investigation that he was not the baby's biological father - was also found guilty of cruelty to a person under 16 and perverting the course of justice, but sentences for those charges were not changed.

In considering Goncalves' sentence, the court said it was correct to describe Malik's murder as "a horrifying incident" as it involved "the forceful gripping and shaking of an 11-week-old baby".

It accepted that Goncalves had had a "difficult childhood" as well as issues with her mental health, but these circumstances did not "reduce the applicant's culpability for the murder".

The 17-year sentence was therefore "not arguably manifestly excessive" and Goncalves' application for leave to appeal against her sentence was refused.

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