TWO parents have been jailed over the death of a six-week-old baby in Southampton.

Father, Doulton Phillips, 17, was given the equivalent of a life sentence for young offenders for the murder of Reggie Phillips.

He was ordered to serve a minimum of 15 years by Judge Justice Spencer.

Mother, Alannah Skinner, was sentenced to 30 months in a young offenders institute, after she was found guilty of neglect.

It follows a five week trial at Winchester Crown Court.

In sentencing, Judge Justice Spencer said: "No words of mine can convey the utter tragedy his death represents for the families involved.

"Not only have they lost Reggie, they have now come to terms with the fact his father has been convicted of murder and his mother of wilful neglect."

Speaking to Phillips, he said: "For murder, there is only one sentence, life imprisonment, and that is the sentence I shall pass upon you in due course.

"Because you were under the age of 18 when you committed this murder, your sentence of life imprisonment must be expressed as detention sharing Her Majesty's Pleasure, but it means exactly the same thing."

Justice Spencer then went on to describe the injuries inflicted on the six-week-old baby as "truly appalling".

He said that from the evidence it was likely Reggie was "swung by the leg or legs and smashed his head against a hard surface".

"The only conclusion on all the evidence is that you carried out a violent and sustained attack on Reggie," he added.

Sentencing Skinner, for wilful neglect, he said: "I am quite sure that the reason you did not summon help sooner was your fear that you would lose Reggie and that you would lose Doulton.

"You realised you should not have been drinking or partying in this way, when you had not been putting Reggie's interests first."

After listing the mitigating factors, Judge Spencer then said: "A custodial sentence is nevertheless quite inevitable in view of your conviction. In a case of this seriousness, appropriate punishment can only be achieved by immediate custody.

"I am acutely concious that no punishment the court can impose is greater than the punishment you have suffered by the loss of your precious baby, whom you dearly loved."