Baby basher Andrew Nolan’s minimum sentence upped 3½ years

A NSW man who brutally bashed his partner’s baby nephew, leaving him a quadriplegic and brain damaged, has had his minimum jail term increased by three years.

Bobby with his family: parents Barry and Elise and sister Olivia.

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A NSW man who brutally bashed his partner’s baby nephew, leaving him a quadriplegic and brain damaged, has had his minimum jail term increased by three years.

Andrew John Nolan, 34, was last year sentenced to at least eight and a half years’ jail for bashing seven-month-old Bobby Webber, who was left severely disabled and vision impaired after the September 2014 attack on the NSW Central Coast.

Bobby Webber pictured in hospital after being attacked by his uncle when he was seven-months-old.

Andrew Nolan has had his sentence extended for the brutal bashing.

Court of Appeal judges on Wednesday increased Nolan’s minimum sentence to 11 and a half years, saying the original sentence fell “well short of adequately reflecting the gravity of the offence, the need for general deterrence and the denunciation of the ... conduct”.

“Serious physical abuse of infants is abhorred by the community and general deterrence is of great importance,” Justice Derek Price wrote in a judgment.

“Public confidence in the justice system would not be served by allowing a manifestly inadequate sentence to stand.”

Bobby suffered horrific injuries, including skull and rib fractures, bite marks and retinal bruising consistent with a motor vehicle accident or a fall from a great height.

His parents, who were on their honeymoon when he was bashed, were not in court for Wednesday’s decision.

Elise Webber arrives at Court with son Bobby Webber.

Bobby was permanently injured.

Mother Elise Webber told reporters Nolan didn’t “deserve to breathe” after his first sentencing in December.

“He doesn’t deserve any of our time, any of our tears,” Ms Webber said. “We cry for Bobby, we don’t cry for him.”

The NSW District Court last year heard Bobby was taken off life-support and placed on an end-of-life plan but managed to keep breathing by himself.

Judge Philip Ingram, who delivered the first sentence, said Nolan had given four versions of what happened on the night Bobby suffered the injuries.

Bobby needs a special walker to move around his Western Sydney home.

He at first told police an intruder must have entered the little boy’s home while he was sleeping on the couch but later admitted putting his foot on the child’s back with force and rubbing him along the carpet.

He also said he hit Bobby twice with an open hand and threw him into his cot but the judge didn’t accept the account, partly because it didn’t explain the infant’s fractured ankles.

Nolan was left alone with Bobby after his partner of 11 years, who was the baby’s maternal aunt, went to a drive-in.

The court heard he denied hurting Bobby to police in the days after the bashing.

“Whoever did this, I hope you find them before I do,” the court heard he told officers.

“What has happened here is disgraceful.” Nolan’s maximum sentence has also been increased from 12 and a half years to 15 years and 3 months.

With time already served, he will be eligible for parole in April 2026.

Baby Bobby before he was brutally bashed by Andrew Nolan.