Father who fractured baby’s skull on trial for murder after she died from injuries six years later

Primrose Kane was left unable to communicate verbally and had to be fed through a tube after the incident, which happened when she was just eight weeks old. A “volatile” father whose eight-week-old daughter was left profoundly disabled after he shook her and fractured her skull is standing trial for murder after she died from her injuries six years later. Kyle Kitchen, 38, vigorously shook newborn Primrose Kane and either hit her with a hard object or threw her against a hard surface leaving her with life-changing injuries, the Old Bailey heard.

He was convicted of two offences of causing grievous bodily harm with intent following the attack at the family’s bedsit in Camden in 2014. Primrose’s mother Kenzey Kane, 31, was found guilty of causing or allowing serious injury to a child by failing to protect her daughter. Primrose, who was placed in the care of her maternal grandmother, suffered serious brain injuries and grew up entirely reliant on carers as she struggled with multiple neurodevelopmental delays, cerebral palsy, progressive deformities and drug-resistant epilepsy.

She was unable to communicate verbally and had to be fed through a tube before her death aged just six in 2021, the court heard. “Primrose was admitted to hospital on multiple occasions with breathing difficulties, uncontrolled epilepsy, feeding difficulties, pressure sores and hip and spinal problems. Her quality of life was very low,” prosecutor Jennifer Knight KC told the jury, adding that due to the severity of her condition a do not resuscitate order was put in place.

Despite her profound disability, Primrose went to a special school in Plumstead, south-east London, from the age of nearly three until her death and was described by her headteacher as "characterful", jurors were told. On the night of 16 May 2021, Primrose slept in a double bed with her grandmother as usual, the court was told. Just before 5am, Maria Kane woke and immediately noticed her granddaughter's normal noisy laboured breathing had stopped. Paramedics attended and Primrose was pronounced dead at 5.23am.

A post-mortem examination concluded her death was the consequence of the traumatic head injury from when she was a baby. Opening the murder trial at London’s Old Bailey on Tuesday, Ms Knight told jurors: "Kyle Kitchen's convictions prove that he is guilty, not merely of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, but of murder. "It is for Kyle Kitchen to prove that he did not commit these offences and is not guilty of murder.".

She told the jury that Primrose’s parents relationship had been “frequently volatile” and Kitchen had been arrested and cautioned in September 2014, when Primrose was three weeks old, for slapping Kane while she was holding the infant. The couple had been alone at the time Primrose was seriously injured on 3 November 2014, the court was told. Shortly before 6am, Kane called 111 to report that Primrose had gone "floppy" and would not wake up after making odd movements and sounds in the night.

During the call, Kitchen was allegedly heard to say that Primrose had blood around her nose and was not breathing. Paramedics arrived within minutes and found the baby was unresponsive, jurors heard. She was taken to the Royal Free Hospital in north London where a scan revealed a skull fracture and serious brain injury. Her parents provided no explanation for how it happened with Kane allegedly saying: "It's not like we knocked her or anything.".