A WOMAN who waited a day before calling an ambulance after witnessing a man place a baby head first in a freezer has been jailed for a year.

Ann-Marie Tatham, 22, was also banned from working with children for life at Chester Crown Court last Friday.

Sentencing her, Judge Nicholas Woodward told Tatham her actions were 'grave and severe'.

'The pre-sentence report says either you have no appreciation of the danger you put the child in or you have no apparent remorse,' he said.

Tatham, of Bolesworth Close, Upton, was convicted of child cruelty last month at Chester Crown Court after leaving the child in the care of a man she believed to use drugs and carry knives.

During the trial the jury heard how Tatham claimed to have woken up to find her guest holding the unconscious 17-month-old under a cold tap.

Despite the child foaming at the mouth, vomiting, remaining unconscious for five minutes, and having been put in a freezer in an effort to revive her, Tatham waited a day before bringing the battered and bruised child to hospital.

Subsequent medical examinations found the child to have suffered two head fractures and a fracture to the shoulder.

Detailing the events of November 1 last year she told police she had been alerted to a commotion. She went into the kitchen to see her guest James Wilson, also known as Joe or Bagga, holding the child under the tap.

'I saw him take the drawers out of the freezer and watched him put her in and take her out. He left her in the freezer for one or two minutes. First he put her under the cold tap. I thought it was unusual,' she said.

'She was floppy still. He stuck his fingers in her mouth and said she's not breathing,' she added.

'I said I want an ambulance but he said no, she's coming round. He then turned her on the side and smacked her on the back and food came out. During the incident she was limp or lifeless for about five minutes.'

Sentencing, Judge Woodward was fiercely critical of Tatham's decision to wait a day before seeking medical attention.

He said: 'On the evidence I have heard, I have no doubt that after this little girl came to consciousness she was showing signs of distress clear to anyone.'

He said medical reports suggested a child would have been expected to cry for several hours after the experience.

'This is a very serious aspect of the case. It should have been clear to anybody that the child was in considerable pain.'

Detailing the child's injuries, her fractured shoulder, skull, and extensive bruising to her body, he said: 'The medical view was that those were non-accidental injuries.'

He added: 'You said afterwards that she seemed fine. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with her. You didn't take her to hospital.

'You told the jury that afterwards she was handled and was playing. I'm afraid the court simply cannot accept that evidence in the circumstances.'

He said Tatham had 'quite clearly failed to tend to the child's needs'.

'That child was only 18-months-old and it was your responsibility to care for her. That was a precious responsibility.

'What you did was very grave and severe. It was a premeditated act on your part that you failed to call the ambulance and you were therefore taking a deliberate risk in the health of the child. You put your concerns over the health of this child. This offence is too serious to be dealt with in any way other than a custodial sentence.'

Tatham was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment and banned from working with children for life. The judge praised Press reports of the Tatham case.

After imposing a Section 39 Order banning the identification of the child in the case, Judge Woodward said the report he had read had been fair and accurate.

'It was a very carefully worded article. While informing the public, it did not identify the child,' he said.