Can there be any more vile crime than that which involves a child? No.

Which is why any sentence handed out against those who cross this line should be as severe as possible.

In this instance a three-month old baby boy is discovered to have fractures to both collar bones, ribs, legs, forearms and feet.

Fortunately, the child was swiftly removed from his parents and is now adopted.

His father however, Edward Booker, 26, of Blackbird Leys, has been jailed for less than three years, despite being told by the judge: “Instead of loving and cherishing him, both of you let him down in the most appalling way. His life up until November [2009] must have been miserable”.

Booker’s former partner and mother of the child, Sharon Keitch, 28, of Barton, received a two-year community order with a supervision requirement.

How can a sentence of less than three years possibly represent an adequate punishment?

Children, and especially babies, are terrifyingly helpless. Which is why it is the duty of the courts to ensure that those who commit crimes of this nature are not only properly removed from society, but properly punished.