A FATHER who caused internal bleeding to his ten-month-old baby after shaking her was jailed for 27 months.

Owen Gaskins, of West Street, Bicester, was sentenced at Oxford Crown Court yesterday.

The 34-year-old admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm on his daughter Lexi Gaskins-Higgins on March 21, 2013.

Prosecuting barrister Charles Ward-Jackson said Gaskins went to his ex-partner Lisa Higgins’s house in Blackburn Walk, Bicester, to babysit their daughter Lexi at 11.30am and was left alone in the house with the infant while Ms Higgins dropped her son to school.

The barrister said Gaskins called the emergency services at 11.58am and the court heard him tell an operator Lexi was “lifeless” during a recording of the call.

He said a paramedic who arrived at the scene saw Gaskins holding Lexi, who had a “bulging” spot on her head, “suggesting a build up of blood under the skull”.

Mr Ward-Jackson said tests at the John Radcliffe Hospital showed Lexi had bruising inside her right ear and on the back of her head, as well as swelling on the back of her head and bleeding on the right side of her brain.

He said CT scans suggested the youngster, who made a full recovery, had been shaken.

The prosecutor said Gaskins told police he was 90 per cent sure he “accidentally bashed” her head on the kitchen door.

Defence barrister Jonathan Coode said: “This clearly is a one off. Nobody prior to this event was critical of Owen Gaskins’s ability to look after a baby or small children.”

Judge Ian Pringle said: “Something happened in the 13 minutes at that property which none of us will never know.”