Phillip Welsh, Auckland man, convicted of manslaughter for the death of Malcolm Bell

Warning: graphic content.

Auckland man Phillip Welsh has been sentenced to nearly six years in prison for the death of baby Malcolm Bell.

Welsh pleaded guilty to manslaughter, admitting to his role in Malcolm’s death, on the eve of his scheduled jury trial.

It had been more than a year since the death of the baby, who was 17 months old.

“How could you deny having committed a crime for so long and then suddenly admit your guilt, but only for murder?” the baby’s mother asked Welsh in court.

‘You killed my baby’

Reading a statement before Auckland High Court, Savanna Bell said that at night she was haunted by visions of her son’s “little body” being crushed.

“You are a liar, a coward, a monster,” he told Welsh.

“You killed my baby,” he said, adding that it was murder.

According to the summary of events, on June 23 last year Welsh threw Malcolm with significant force towards a sofa more than a meter away.

Malcolm hit the back of the sofa, whose wooden frame was covered in a thin layer, and fell to the floor.

“He was immediately unconscious and did not move,” Judge Christian Whata said.

At 7.32pm, Welsh called Savanna Bell to tell her that the boy was having a seizure and needed an ambulance.

He remembered in court how he had run faster than ever before, desperately trying to get home.

“The world around me was out of control. I just had to get to my son.”

As he ran, he dialed 111 and spoke to an ambulance operator.

When the ambulance came after her at 7.43pm, paramedics described the boy’s unresponsive breathing as “slow and labored.”

Savanna Bell said that Welsh had not told the truth about what happened and that she sometimes wondered if her son would have received the help he needed if Welsh had received it.

Later saw him sneak into the hospital, heard the court.

Savanna Bell recalled that her precious baby was born happy and beautiful.

He remembered their happy outings together in Auckland and how Malcolm liked to feed the ducks.

He ended his statement by saying that he believed Welsh deserved a life sentence.

‘Malcolm can never be replaced’

Malcolm’s maternal grandmother, Sophie Pokai, told the court that his heart had sank when she was told he had been admitted to the hospital.

“Why are the police here?” she remembered thinking.

He sat down next to Malcolm’s bed, unable to take his mamae (pain) away, he said.

“Children and grandchildren should bury their parents and grandparents, not the other way around.”

Welsh had “broken the circle of my whānau”.

“He took one of my taonga from me. Malcolm can never be replaced.”

In sentencing, Judge Whata took into account Welsh’s troublesome upbringing and the information before him showed that Welsh had a low risk of recidivism.

Judge Whata said there were three serious aggravating factors in the crime.

First, there has been “extreme, indeed brutal violence.”

“You threw Malcolm so hard he caused a major head injury.”

Medical notes noted that if the boy had survived he would have been blind, Judge Whata said.

Second, Malcolm was “absolutely vulnerable” and there had been a breach of trust.

Third, it was a “deliberate” concealment of the crime from doctors at the time.

Judge Whata sentenced Welsh to five years and 11 months in prison.

It established a minimum parole-free period of half that period.

After sentencing, Detective Sergeant Geoff Baber said Malcolm’s life was “cruelly taken away.”

“He was a vulnerable child and he should have been safe at home.”

The Herald previously reported that Oranga Tamariki had been contacted with concerns about Malcolm’s well-being before he suffered fatal injuries.

After his death, the agency initially declined to comment before an Auckland manager said they had been working to support him and his whānau prior to his death.