A JUDGE spoke out about the need to protect children as he locked up a Huddersfield thug.

Judge Jonathan Durham Hall handed a 10-year extended prison sentence to Christopher Robert Lee, who had cruelly abused a tiny baby girl.

And he told Lee: “Children have to be protected.

“They deserve only care and protection and you broke the cardinal rules.”

Lee, 27, fractured the new-born baby’s thigh and ribs.

Bradford Crown court heard yesterday how the youngster, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, was admitted to hospital in 2011 and found to have an undisplaced spiral fracture of the thigh bone.

Prosecutor Sophie Drake said the baby, who was less than two months old, was further examined and found to have a number of older fractures to her ribs.

In his initial interview Lee, of Station Street, Holmfirth, said he had heard the baby’s leg “pop” but he denied using any excessive force.

Medical experts indicated, however, that fractures to the ribs and thigh bone were rare in babies, with one noting that the thigh bone was the strongest bone in the body.

Another suggested that the rib fractures would have required “squeezing” using a considerable degree of force.

In October 2011 Lee accepted causing the rib fractures saying he had “lost his cool”, but he did not formally enter his guilty pleas to two charges of causing grievous bodily harm with intent until September this year.

The court heard that the investigation into the baby’s injuries and Lee’s failure to admit responsibility had led to the girl being separated from her mother for about five months.

Lee, who had no previous convictions, was sentenced to a five-year prison sentence with an additional extended licence period of a further five years.

Lawyer Neil Murphy, for Lee, said his client wanted to express his remorse, regret and sadness for the pain and suffering caused to the child and her mother.

Mr Murphy stressed that the mother had been totally blameless and said the older rib injuries would not have been apparent to an observer.

He said it was very difficult for Lee to come to terms with the fact that he, a man of 27 years, had lost his temper with a baby under eight weeks old.

“He finds it horrific that he could have caused these injuries and behaved in such a way,” said Mr Murphy.

Mr Murphy said Lee was not habitually a violent man and he had had the guts to admit what happened.

“What he did was horrible,” added Mr Murphy.

“He deeply regrets it and he’s bitterly ashamed.”

The judge said: “The facts of this case could not be more grave.”

He said Lee’s inability to control his temper and frustration had devastating consequences for the child and he must have subjected the infant to a severe traumatic episode when he caused the rib fractures.

“The doctor indicates that a high degree of force was necessary to compress and fracture all those ribs,” noted the judge.

“The child in consequence must have, in its bewildered infant state, have suffered the most severe discomfort.”

The later injury to the thigh bone must have involved a high degree of twisting or something similar.

New call for Milnsbridge roadworks changes after traffic survey: Click here to read.