A Rainham woman who shook an 11-week-old baby so hard she left him with severe brain damage has been jailed for three years.

The 27-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, used her mobile phone to Google terms like “baby in coma” and “baby having difficulty breathing” after attacking the tot, who also cannot be named.

The infant was left fighting for breath but the woman delayed calling an ambulance to her Rainham home for almost 12 hours, Snaresbrook Crown Court heard.

She pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm and child cruelty earlier and was sentenced today.

Texts sent in the days before the incident showed she was getting frustrated with two children and was struggling to cope.

One read: “They’ve pissed me off, they’ve both gone crazy, I’m going to throw [the second baby] into a wall soon.”

More than two years after the attack the little boy is unable to sit up unaided and he is likely to need round-the-clock care for the rest of his life.

Sentencing, Judge Martin Zeidman said: ‘You’ve done two terrible things, you shook this baby causing injuries and having done so you failed to seek medical help.”

David Hislop, mitigating, said: “We may never know exactly how this baby suffered these injuries, but by her pleas the defendant accepts that she’s to be sentenced as the perpetrator of his injuries.”

He added the woman was just 24 years old at the time of the incident and had very little support in the UK.

“There can be no doubt by 16 September she was not coping,” he said.

A Rainham man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had also faced a charge of child cruelty in relation to the case but was cleared.