Thomas Holford is accused of the murder of his daughter Everleigh Stroud. (Image: Police Handout)
A father who murdered his newborn baby daughter in a devastating attack that he claims he cannot remember because he had been smoking multiple cannabis joints, has been jailed for life. Thomas Holford, 25, woke to find Everleigh Stroud critically injured after she spent the night alone with him in the bedroom of his home in Ramsgate. The baby had suffered “catastrophic” brain injuries after being “violently shaken” by the drug-addled brute – but as emergency services raced to the home he took to playing games on his phone.
Holford, 25, claimed he had no memory of the incident after smoking multiple cannabis joints on the evening he attacked his daughter, whilst her then 16-year-old mother was away. Everleigh was rushed to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital (QEQM) in Margate on the morning of April 21, 2021, after her grandmother Kelly Stroud reported that she was “only just” breathing. Despite the situation heartless Holford showed “little emotion” and continued to download and play games on his phone when police arrived at the scene.
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Tragic Everleigh Stroud. (Image: Kent Police / SWNS)
His daughter died when her life support machine was turned off a year after the attack, which left her with severe injuries to her brain, ribs and legs.
Holford was “under the influence” of cannabis at the time of the shaking and later lied to police about his drug use, having smoked at least five joints to celebrate “420” the previous day, which the court had heard he agreed was a “big day for cannabis smokers”.
On Thursday, Holford, of Ramsgate, was found unanimously guilty of murder and actual bodily harm of his daughter by a Canterbury Crown Court jury.
And today Mr Justice Michael Fordham sentenced Holford to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 16 years and told the court that he had “robbed” his former partner and her family of “any type of deep happiness” for the rest of their lives.
The judge said: “Overnight on the 20th to 21st of April 2021, when you were just 20 years old, you shook your five-week-old baby daughter Everleigh.
“That act of shaking caused severe and irreversible brain injuries, she died 13 months later as a result of those injuries.
“The jury was sure that at the moment of shaking Everleigh, you intended to cause her really serious injury.”
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Along with brain injuries, Everleigh also had bone fractures, bruising to her face, and atrophy to her eyes, leading to her going blind, having spent the night before in her father’s care, the court heard.
Everleigh, who was born on March 13, 2021, spent more than a year in the hospital before she died aged 14 months on May 27, 2022.
Mr Justice Fordham continued: “Kelly Stroud has described in her statement the impacts of what you did, how your actions denied Everleigh a life, how your actions denied a lifetime of hopes and dreams to Casey, a wonderful young mum who never gave up fighting for her daughter.”
He added: “Your actions robbed the Stroud family of any type of deep happiness, leaving grief on all members of the family for the rest of their lives.”
While giving evidence, Holford told jurors he had at least five joints on April 20 2021, before being left in charge of Everleigh that evening.
“You were under the influence of cannabis when you injured Everleigh, I am sure that is right,” said Mr Justice Fordham.
When police arrived at his address in Wallwood Road, Ramsgate, where Holford, then 20, lived with his then 16-year-old girlfriend and her parents, they discovered a cannabis grinder and joint butts next to a milk bottle in his bedroom.
A witness statement written by Everleigh’s grandmother, Ms Stroud, and summarised in court heard how hard it had been to face her death.
Thomas Holford played on his phone after causing catastrophic injuries. (Image: Kent Police)
“The shock was something that they have not experienced before, albeit they had a short period of denial and desperately searched for answers,” said prosecutor Eloise Marshall KC.
The statement read: “In a blink of an eye our world came crashing down in the most heartbreaking and traumatic way.”
Holford also received a two-year concurrent prison sentence for actual bodily harm of Everleigh’s anus which happened the same night.
In the sentencing hearing, Ms Marshall said: “The actual bodily harm undermines any suggestion that this was one single act born of one motivation and the motivation was described by the defence as perhaps frustration or flash of anger.
“We say that suggestion is undermined by the actual bodily harm.”
At the time of the attack, Holford was living with his then 16-year-old girlfriend and her parents in the Kent seaside town.
During the trial, Holford also admitted he had “manipulated” his girlfriend’s family into taking care of his cannabis for him and allowing him to smoke it.
While in the witness box, he often answered questions to the effect of being unsure or not remembering what had happened the night he attacked Everleigh.
“The jury were sure that whatever your memory then or now you shook her meaning to cause really serious injury,” said Mr Justice Fordham.
Jailed for life – Thomas Holford. (Image: PA)
Text messages shown to jurors also suggest that he tried to buy weed from a contact known as “Milo” because he knew he was looking after his daughter.
He sent a text which read: “Could you strap me anything, as I’ve got the little one on my own tonight? Going to be f****** stressful.”
Defence barrister Jo Martin KC claimed during the trial that Holford showed no planning, premeditation or motive before killing his daughter.
She said: “This cack-handed, cannabis-fuelled young man would try everything he would normally do to work out why she was crying and then he would move on to stopping that crying.”
But Ms Marshall told the court that Holford “would have known he would have caused that child really serious harm” by shaking her with “extreme force”.
While in the witness box, he often answered questions by stating that he was unsure or did not remember what had happened.
“When it suits you, you have a memory – and when it doesn’t suit you, you pretend you don’t have a memory,” said Ms Marshall.
Det Insp Ross Gurden said: “Through the investigation, Thomas Holford has failed to tell the truth and accept responsibility for his actions. He will now be facing a long custodial sentence.”
An NSPCC spokesperson said: “Holford’s brutal attack on his baby daughter destroyed her life and ultimately caused her death.
“Our thoughts are with all those who loved and cared for Everleigh during her short life – the majority of which was spent on life support following the assault by her father.”
Will Bodiam, from the CPS, said Holford showed “no emotion” after his daughter was rushed to intensive care, and instead continued to download games on his phone, “even asking one of the police officers to help him choose a game”.
He added: “Holford’s actions left his daughter in unimaginable pain for the next year before her death.”