A new boyfriend who fatally shook his partner’s toddler to death after discovering his Universal Credit had been stopped will face a life sentence.

Michael Daymond, 27, assaulted two-year-old Maya Chappell with such intensity that the damage observed in her eyes resembled injuries sustained by individuals involved in car accidents or falling from a considerable height, according to Teesside Crown Court.

Maya’s mother, Dana Carr, 24, was found guilty of child cruelty by neglect and allowing the death of a child. The prosecution asserted that she had essentially ignored the bruises inflicted on her daughter by Daymond while leaving the child in his care to attend work.

Following a three-week trial, Daymond was convicted of murder and a child cruelty charge related to the inflicted bruises. The former couple, unanimously convicted on all charges, are scheduled to be sentenced on December 22.