A security guard who was jailed for stomping his girlfriend’s two-year-old daughter to death because she urinated on his sofa, will walk free from prison after he was cleared on appeal.
Mussie Debresay was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 11 years in prison in September last year when he was found guilty of killing the toddler at his unit in Footscray, Melbourne’s inner-west.
Acting in anger, Mr Debresay stomped on the girl’s abdomen after she urinated and vomited on his couch in May 2005, a Supreme Court jury found.
Acting in anger, Mr Debresay (pictured) stomped on the girl’s abdomen after she urinated and vomited on his couch in May 2005, a Supreme Court jury found last year
The two-year-old girl, who was the daughter of Mr Debresay’s partner, died from serious internal injuries the following day.
Mr Debresay’s manslaughter conviction was overturned by three Court of Appeal judges on Thursday, The Age reported.
He appeared at court via video link on Thursday morning, and was expected to walk free in the afternoon.
He will have served one year behind bars.
The Court of Appeal judges, Phillip Priest, David Beach and Stephen Kay, ruled evidence used to convict Mr Debresay was unreliable.
Evidence was given by the girl’s brother, who was four years old when he allegedly witnessed the attack.
In recorded interviews with the police, the boy said Mr Debresay attacked his little sister because she urinated and vomited on his couch.
The boy maintained his story for a decade after the alleged attack but conceded at the 2016 trial he did not see the actual attack.
Mussie Debresay being led into a prison van at the Victorian Supreme Court after being sentenced to an 11-year jail term with eight years non-parole last year
‘We have concluded that the jury, acting reasonably, must have had a reasonable doubt as to the applicant’s guilt,’ the judges said.
‘We have a reasonable doubt about the applicant’s guilt.’
The judges said the jury could not have found Mr Debresay guilty based on the four-year-old boy’s evidence.
‘The verdict is unsafe and unsatisfactory. It must be set aside,’ they said.
Mr Debresay maintained his innocence throughout the trial.
He told police the little girl fell down in his living room.
Mr Debresay, who migrated from Eritrea when he was a teenager, was still in a relationship with the little girl’s mother when he was sentenced last year.