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4 months ago
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Police bodycam and interview footage have revealed how a teenage baby killer smirked as he was questioned by police and called cops 'boring' in video that helped convict him.
Carl Alesbrook, who is now 19, will be given a mandatory life sentence for shaking four-month-old baby Elijah Shemwell to death in January 2022.
When he was 16, Alesbrook shook his then-partner's son so violently he suffered 'catastrophic' brain injuries and broken bones.
Alesbrook, from Matlock in Derbyshire, denied causing any harm to Elijah but was unanimously convicted of both murder and causing grievous bodily harm with intent by the jury at Derby Crown Court on July 11.
Video of his initial contact with police and later interviews showed Alesbrook admitting to leaving the baby unsupervised and taking drugs before he was meant to look after the tiny tot.
Killer Carl Alesbrook, then 16, (pictured) smirked when he was being interviewed by police
He told cops he had 'f*** all' to say when police officers said he had lied
When police first spoke to the teenage killer, he removed his hoodie to reveal a gold watch and blue T-shirt
Baby Elijah was shook violently while in this messy Derbyshire flat
Clothes were piled high in the bedroom, while in the living room what appeared to be nappies were strewn on the floor
He was often looking after Elijah while the baby's mother, India Shemwell, was at work.
Shemwell, who is now 23, was described during her ex-partner's trial as 'a thoroughly inadequate mother' who both generally and specifically neglected Elijah and failed to seek prompt medical attention for him on both January 1 and 2, 2022.
Alesbrook's violent outbursts caused little Elijah bleeding on the brain, whiplash-type injuries and multiple bone fractures between November 2021 and January 2022.
He said defenceless Elijah Shemwell was 'being a little c***' and complained that the baby kept spitting his dummy out.
Once 999 was eventually called on January 2, Elijah was taken by paramedics to hospital where he died three days later on January 5.
The jury also saw CCTV of Shemwell visiting a shop and buying milk and Coca-Cola on the night of the fatal assault.
Elijah Shemwell was just four months old when he was shaken to death by his mother's partner Carl Alesbrook
India Shemwell, 23, (pictured) admitted two offences of cruelty to her four-month-old son Elijah
India Shemwell pleaded guilty to two counts of cruelty to a person under 16 – one between 31 December 2021 and 1 January 2022, and the second on January 2nd 2022.
She and Alesbrook will both be sentenced at a date yet to be fixed in autumn.
High Court Judge Mr Justice Jeremy Baker excused the jurors from jury service for the next decade.
He told Alesbrook: 'There is only one sentence that can be imposed but part of that sentence will be a determination of the minimum term that you will have to serve.'
Below are seven shocking moments from Alesbrook's interactions with police...
1) KILLER DESCRIBES BABY'S LIMPNESS
After two female police officers first enter his flat, the 16-year-old described how little Elijah's arms had been limp.
The killer said: 'He's been alright and then last night me and India both thought he had a toothache.
'He was practically screaming for a good hour and then he went to like a conscious state but he wasn't.
'His eyes were partially open but if you lifted his arm up it would just drop.
'He was breathing so it was like he was there but he wasn't, and kind of just gave him time to come back round, let him go back to sleep and then he was fine.
'He did it again earlier on.'
Sick thug Alesbrook described how little Elijah's arm had been limp
Carl Alesbrook, who was 16 at the time of the offence but is now 19, will be given a mandatory life sentence for shaking four-month-old baby Elijah Shemwell to death
2) ADMITS BABY WAS LEFT UNSUPERVISED
Officers questioned who was looking after the baby when his mother was out and Alesbrook was asleep.
One of the officers asked: 'So when [India Shemwell] and you were saying you were asleep, who was looking after [the baby]?'
Baby Elijah was often left alone with Carl Alesbrook
Baby Elijah suffered 'catastrophic' injuries at the hands of Alesbrook, who used to look after the youngster while the boy's mother was at work
The murderer replied: 'He was asleep himself. He woke me up by crying.'
The policewoman said: 'Right, so no one actually supervising him at that time.'
3) LIES THEN ADMITS SMOKING CANNABIS
By this point, the teenage killer had removed his hoodie to reveal a gold watch and blue T-shirt.
When asked whether he had taken drugs, his first reaction was to lie.
'No,' he said, before adding: 'Er, I mean truthfully I had a joint earlier on when I was out'.
The police officer confirmed with the teenage killer that is was a joint of cannabis that he had smoked.
When asked whether he had taken drugs, his first reaction was to lie
Police outside the home in Belper, Derbyshire, in 2022
4) KILLER: 'ONE HELL OF A START OF A YEAR'
While one officer talked with her bosses, Alesbrook went downstairs 'for a fag'.
After he lit up his cigarette, the teenager who shook baby Elijah so violently it died said: 'It's been one hell of a start of a year already.
'I had toothache, so I ended up having codeine to try and numb the pain of that, and then I ended up throwing that up at three in the morning on the first night of the year.'
'And then the second night, the kid.'
While one officer talked with her bosses, Alesbrook went downstairs 'for a fag'
After he lit up his cigarette, the teenager who shook baby Elijah so violently it died said: 'It's been one hell of a start of a year already'
He added: 'I had toothache, so I ended up having codeine to try and numb the pain of that, and then I ended up throwing that up at three in the morning on the first night of the year. And then the second night, the kid'
5) KILLER LAUGHS ON THE PHONE
When a woman called him on his mobile, he laughed and joked about the emergency services.
The sick thug swore as he paced around while taking puffs of his cigarette.
The killer said: 'Jesus Christ, f***'s sake.'
He laughed, adding: 'The police, ambulance. Do you want to get a fire engine as well?'
When a woman called him on his mobile, he laughed and joked about the emergency services
He took puffs of his cigarette while speaking into the phone
6) SWEARS IN POLICE INTERVIEW
During his police interview, cops said: 'You confirmed [to the police officers] you sent a message saying ''Where are you?''
'This was a lie. There is no message saying ''Where are you?''
'We have interrogated your phone and this is not confirmed on there. What do you have to say about this?'
Leaning back, his head resting against the wall, the killer replied: 'F*** all.'
In his police interview, the killer leant back on the wall as cops questioned him
7) CALLS POLICE 'BORING'
A policewoman said to Alesbrook: 'You repeated the same account in subsequent police interviews in that you were asleep in India's flat on January 2 and you were not aware that India had left the flat.
'You were also asked to confirm your previous accounts today on interview and again, you initially maintained the same account of being asleep, and then changed this account today when you were presented with evidence to state that you now cannot remember.
'What do you have to say about that?
The killer replied: 'I say you're boring, man.'
After a policewoman asked him a question, he said he thought she was 'boring'
Carl Alesbrook, 19, (pictured) caused bleeding on the brain, whiplash-type injuries and multiple bone fractures to Elijah Shemwell seven weeks after meeting the child's mother, India Shemwell
India Shemwell admitted two child cruelty offences against her son, Elijah, who was just four months old when he died
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