Jake Luscombe to be sentenced for manslaughter of Grafton baby Alyviah Hayne

A North Coast man guilty of manslaughter after shaking a Grafton baby has become a target in prison, the District Court at Coffs Harbour heard today.

Grafton baby Alyviah died after being shaken by Luscombe in 2015. File image: Bev Lacey

A North Coast man guilty of manslaughter after shaking a baby has been targeted in custody, a court heard.

In 2015, mum Brooke Skinner’s worst nightmare came true after she found her seven-month-old baby girl Alyviah Hayne unresponsive and in cardiac arrest.

Now, almost a decade later, the man responsible will face justice after pleading guilty to manslaughter.

Muswellbrook man Jake Luscombe stared blankly ahead in his prison greens during his sentence hearing at Coffs Harbour District Court on Friday.

The 27-year-old’s barrister told the court his client had been targeted five times in custody since December.

The incidents had seen Corrective Services move Luscombe to a different prison complex, and his barrister told the court his client would “almost certainly” need to be put in protective custody.

The court had heard Luscombe became frustrated with baby Alyviah and shook her, resulting in fatal injuries to the baby’s head and brain.

Luscombe, then aged 20, and Ms Skinner lived in South Grafton together, but by December of that year “there was tension in the relationship”, the court heard.

On December 3, Ms Skinner woke to change the nappy of her young daughter who “was behaving normally and observed to be laughing and smiling”.

Ms Skinner left Alyviah with Luscombe for just 40 minutes while she went to pick up some cannabis.

Soon after Ms Skinner returned and found her baby unresponsive with froth around her nose.

Paramedics arrived and determined Alyviah was in cardiac arrest. She was pronounced dead at Grafton Hospital at 2.18pm, despite CPR and defibrillation attempts.

Luscombe’s barrister said the offender was an “immature caregiver” who had an “inability to regulate himself” leading to “impulsive outbursts”.

She said Luscombe had since shown remorse for his offending, writing a letter to the court which while “inarticulate” demonstrated his contrition and asked for less time in prison and more time on parole.

The Crown prosecutor told the court Luscombe had been trusted with the wellbeing of a vulnerable child, and the risks in custody “could not overwhelm” the seriousness of the offending.

The Crown argued Luscombe’s contrition was too little, too late after he initially lied to police about what happened to Alyviah, and forced a coronial inquest to be called.

The court heard Luscombe took part in two police interviews — on December 4, 2015, and February 17, 2016 — during which he gave the same account and denied responsibility for the baby’s death.

In one interview, Luscombe claimed “that (Ms Skinner) started shaking (the baby) and lost control,” the documents state.

A 2015 autopsy was inconclusive about the cause of the young child’s death, but a 2020 coronial inquest found otherwise, and referred the matter to the Department of Public Prosecutions.

Luscombe was arrested and charged on October 5, 2022 with the manslaughter of Alyviah.

Judge Jennifer English will hand down Luscombe’s sentence on October 3.