AN MP today blamed the system for failing to protect a 16-month-old twin boy who was killed by his heroin addict father.

Glenn Shackleton, 26, of Bar Street, Burnley, but formerly of Blackburn, has been jailed for a total of seven years after admitting the manslaughter of his baby son Jack and two cruelty charges relating to the tot and his twin brother Adam.

Jack died from a head injury apparently caused by shaking while a pathologist also found 49 separate areas of bruising or abrasions to his body, either recent or older.

Preston Crown Court heard that when Jack's brother Adam was examined he was found to have bruising, large abrasions and a broken rib that may have followed rough handling.

Today Burnley MP Peter Pike said he believed the system had failed baby Jack. He said: "My concern with this case is that warning lights were flashing long before Jack tragically died and his brother was injured.

"I want to make sure that this case is brought into the public domain. I am not laying the blame at anybody's door in particular, but this child was failed by the system and I want to make sure that lessons are learned from this.

"The father may have been jailed for seven years, but that does not bring the baby back. For me this case does not end with the courts."

The court heard that Shackleton and his wife Georgina, 23, had five children.

The youngsters were removed from the parents' care, but later on, following assessments, were gradually re-introduced to the couple. Jack and Adam returned to them in February this year.

David Pickup, prosecuting, said that at 2am on April 16 the defendant made a 999 ambulance call.

Shackleton, who used to live in Fielding Crescent, Blackburn, said he had been bringing both his sons downstairs when one slipped out of his hands. He had then tried to give him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Ambulance officers found Jack lying on the living room floor. There were no signs of life. Further efforts to revive him were made on the way to Burnley General Hospital and in the accident and emergency depart- ment.

When spoken to by police, Shackleton said he had drunk two cans of special brew during the day and taken 40 milligrammes of methadone. He was alone looking after three children and during the evening he injected himself with heroin.

He said he was feeding daughter Natasha at 10.40pm when the twins woke up and began crying. The defendant went downstairs, with one child under each arm, and Jack jumped out of his grip and fell.

Home Office pathologist Dr John Rutherford, who examined Jack, found three major areas of trauma, to the body surface, head and abdomen.

It suggested rough handling over a period of time while a head injury was consistent with shaking and death would have occurred rapidly after injury.

When neighbours were spoken to, they said they had heard children crying at all times of the day. There had been a lot of shouting and some obscenities when they cried.

During a police interview, Shackleton gave the same account - that Jack sort of jumped or jerked out of his arms.

During the fourth or fifth police interview, when given details of the post-mortem examination, he admitted having been rough at times with the children.

He had shaken them a bit, poked them and not been able to cope when they cried all the time.

Alistair Webster, defending, said it was quite clear that the defendant was ill-equipped to meet the needs of looking after three young children. He had a fragile personality, inability to form relationships with adults and a poor home background.

"The week prior to Jack's death brought together a combination of circumstances which, with the benefit of hindsight, were likely to lead to trouble." Shackleton had been trying to reduce his heroin dependency by using methadone, buying it off the street. He had also been suffering from very serious headaches that would lie him low for 28 hours.

Mr Webster referred to a psychiatric report in which the defendant expressed his disgust with himself, fairly forcefully and repeatedly.

"He has been effectively disowned by his family who want nothing more to do with him. He will remain vulnerable while in prison. He accepts punishment and welcomes it.

"It isn't a case of someone battering a child."

The judge, Mr Justice Kay, sentenced him to five-and-a-half years for manslaughter with 18 months consecutive on one of the cruelty charges.

He said: "This is a very serious matter. You shook your child so hard that you killed him."

After the case Shackleton's parents Terence and Jacqueline and sister Angela, who all live in Fielding Crescent, Blackburn, refused to comment.

Yesterday, after an application by the Lancashire Evening Telegraph, Mr Justice Kay quashed a High Court order made in July banning identification of Adam Shackleton.

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