A man has today (Monday 22 June) been sentenced to three years and three months after being convicted of violently shaking his infant son leaving him with severe disabilities.
Iskander Kechiche (pictured below), 49, of Elkstone Close, Worcester, pleaded guilty to a section 20 assault GBH offence when he appeared before Worcester Crown Court on Monday 18 May.
Kechiche’s conviction follows an investigation by West Mercia Police’s Public Protection Unit (PPU) which uncovered how he shook the three-and-a-half-month-old boy in July 2021 while he was left alone with him, causing significant head trauma that caused life-changing injuries.
Today at Worcester Crown Court, the judge sentenced Kechiche to 39 months in prison, after considering his guilty plea and it being a first offence, where the maximum term available was five years.
On 29 July 2021, Kechiche called 999 asking for an ambulance claiming that his son had fallen from a sofa, but medical staff became suspicious and informed police as the boy was in cardiac arrest.
Officers attended hospital, and Kechiche was arrested two days later. He continued to dispute the claims he caused the injuries, but an investigation by PPU found otherwise.
They sought the opinions of several medical experts who agreed the injuries were caused by an abusive, non-accidental head injury with the only credible explanation of cause being the boy was shaken by Kechiche – an assault that left the child severely disabled.
Kechiche was charged on 28 June 2024 with cause / allow a child / vulnerable adult to suffer serious physical harm. This was later amended at court to section 18 assault GBH when appeared at crown court on Monday 18 May this year before a guilty plea for a section 20 GBH was accepted.
The boy, now five, is in the care of his family and specialist medical, health and support agencies.
Detective Sergeant Louise Sutton from PPU said:“We are pleased PPU’s investigation has secured the conviction against Kechiche whose violent and appalling actions inflicted terrible injuries upon his own son.
“His time in prison will never compensate for the life sentence his brutality has imposed on the boy who now faces a lifetime of specialist care and support dealing with his severe disabilities and a limited quality of life.
“However, we hope today’s verdict with give his family some closure as they try to move on from such a horrible ordeal.”
