Man jailed over 10-year-old boy’s manslaughter
James Colin Burnham has been sentenced to three years in jail after admitting to helping cover up his partner’s manslaughter of her nephew.
Curtis Powell was 10 when he died in July 2015 at a Brisbane home, where he lived with his aunt Jodie Maree Powell and her partner Burnham.
The official cause of Curtis’s death was bronchopneumonia, but more than 200 injuries were found on his body during autopsy.
The court heard Powell did not get medical help when Curtis stopped breathing in an attempt to cover up years of abuse.
Burnham in November pleaded guilty in the Brisbane Supreme Court to being an accessory after the fact.
Crown prosecutor Nathan Crane said his role included trying to help Powell get away by giving out false information to investigators, wiping blood from Curtis’ mouth after the boy’s death and washing bloody linen.
Crane said while Burnham was not responsible for the abuse, he “helped the offender delay detection” by “removing evidence and providing a false statement”.
Burnham’s defence lawyer Andrew Hoare said the Queensland man was “cowed” into lying to police by Powell.
Hoare said Burnham was “suffering abuse” in a “destructive” relationship, and was having “difficulties with his sexuality”.
The court sentenced Burnham to three years in jail, with the term to be suspended after serving seven months.
Powell pleaded guilty to manslaughter in August and was sentenced to nine years in jail with a non-parole period of three years and six months.