Daniel John Ridgers sentenced over death of 10-month-old Khaylan Shayne Butler

A grieving mother has made an emotional plea outside court after Warrane man Daniel Ridgers was sentenced in the Supreme Court over the death of a 10-month-old baby. Her appeal >>

Maddison Butler, mother of Khaylan, after the sentence was handed down for Daniel John Ridgers in relation to the manslaughter death of 10 month old Khaylan Shayne Butler. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

The grieving mother of a 10-month-old boy who died after being shaken in his cot has called for greater legal protections for infants in Tasmania, after Warrane man Daniel John Ridgers was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment for manslaughter on Thursday.

Speaking outside the Supreme Court in Hobart after Acting Justice David Porter ordered 26-year-old Ridgers to serve at least three years in jail before being eligible for parole, Maddison Butler described her late son Khaylan as “happiest, most beautiful baby you would ever meet”.

Baby Khaylan Shayne Butler. Picture: Facebook.

Saying her family were devastated and “defeated” by the sentence, Ms Butler recalled being shattered when the murder charge Ridgers was originally facing following the December 2023 incident had been downgraded to manslaughter.

Khaylan died after he was shaken and dropped from a height of 60cm by Ms Butler’s then-partner.

“Six years for my son’s life is not enough,” said Ms Butler, who was flanked by a large group of friends and supporters, with many wearing “Justice for Khaylan” T-shirts.

“Laws around shaking a baby need to change in Tasmania, and my next step is pushing for Khaylan’s Law.”

Acting Justice Porter told the court that on 30 November 2023, Ridgers had been caring for Khaylan alone at the home he shared with Ms Butler, when his frustration over the infant’s crying spilt over into violence.

Maddison Butler mother of Khaylan with Tash Butler grandmother of Khaylan leave court. Sentence for Daniel John Ridgers in relation to the manslaughter death of 10 month old Khaylan Shayne Butler. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

When Ms Butler arrived home from work in the early hours of 1 December 2023 she found her young son “stiff, sweaty, pale, and breathing irregularly”, His Honour said.

After Ms Butler dialled triple-0, Khaylan was rushed by paramedics to Royal Hobart Hospital, where he was found with symmetrical bruises to his forehead and diagnosed with a subdural haemorrhage to his brain.

Justice Porter said doctors then rushed the 10-month old for emergency surgery.

“Tragically it was to no avail,” His Honour said.

It was at hospital that Ridgers gave the first of three interviews to officers of Tasmania Police, in which he admitted to increasing levels of culpability for Khaylan’s injuries.

The defendant eventually revealed he “just flipped” the baby’s crying had exacerbated ongoing life stressors he had been struggling with.

Daniel John Ridgers, 25. Picture: Facebook

“I shook him five or six times but he just screamed and screamed and screamed,” Ridgers told police.

“If I could take it back I would in a heartbeat”

Acting Justice Porter said he regarded the objective seriousness of Ridgers’s offending as high, due to the age of the victim, the dangerous nature of his actions, his revelation to police that he “knew all about shaken baby syndrome”, and his subsequent lies to authorities.

In sentencing, Justice Porter said he accepted the defendant had pleaded guilty, and was genuinely remorseful for his crime, and had been impaired to a limited degree by symptoms associated with ADHD.

“Most parents would understand the extreme frustration of a crying infant for an extended period of time but the welfare of a child must remain a paramount state of mind,” Justice Porter said

His Honour acknowledged that although prison was often “a substantially more difficult proposition” for those convicted of causing a child’s death, any sentence had to recognise the sanctity of human life.

Acting Justice Porter backdated the sentence to 2 December 2023, when the defendant was first taken into custody.

Originally published as Daniel John Ridgers sentenced over death of 10-month-old Khaylan Shayne Butler