Australian nanny Louise Sullivan (27) was preparing to fly home to Sydney last night, after being given a 15-month suspended sentence for shaking to death six-month-old baby Caroline Jongen.
The woman, described as having a "psychopathic disorder" and being "on the edges of mental retardation", was told by an Old Bailey judge that manslaughter would normally warrant jail. But the fact that she was unaware of mental deficiencies caused by being born without a thyroid gland diminished her culpability and meant her circumstances were "exceptional", Mr Justice Mitchell, said.
Immediately after the sentence Caroline's parents, Marcel and Muriel Jongen, told police they did not want to destroy Sullivan's life. The Jongens had listened to a stream of psychiatric evidence called by Sullivan's defence team.
They sat impassively in court as Mr Justice Mitchell outlined his reasons for suspending Sullivan's sentence. "Nothing can put the clock back or restore that baby to her mother and father, or end the pain of the parents or their anguish," he said.
The court had heard Sullivan had a low IQ and a thyroid deficiency which had led to delayed development. She could not cope when faced with a crisis - but neither she, nor others, appreciated it at the time.
The nanny told police she shook the baby when she had a fit or convulsion during a feed at the Jongens' London home in 1997.
Trained in a "shake and shout" technique to discover if someone was conscious, she shook the baby for probably five to 10 seconds, Mr Nigel Sweeney, prosecuting, said during her trial.
It made the baby's brain wobble "rather like a jelly inside a mould" causing severe, irreparable damage. Caroline died five days later.
Sullivan admitted involuntary manslaughter.