A mother whose sex offender ex-boyfriend murdered her infant daughter has branded his 25-year prison term too lenient.
Barry McCarney (pictured top right) will serve at least 25 years behind bars for killing Millie Martin (bottom right) in what the judge described as a ?sadistic sexual assault?. But Rachael Martin (pictured left at court today), the girl?s mother, criticised the sentence, saying: ?25 years isn?t long enough.? McCarney, 33, was caught on camera taking Millie (pictured centre) to Erne Hospital in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland after she sustained serious injuries from his attacks.
Barry McCarney was today given the life sentence tariff in Belfast Crown Court for the murder of 15-month-old Millie Martin in what the judge described as a ?sadistic sexual assault?.
But Rachael Martin, the toddler?s mother, criticised the sentence, saying: ?Twenty-five years isn?t long enough.?
Her mother and Millie?s grandmother Margaret Graham said 33-year-old McCarney, who was not the child?s father, should never be freed.
She said: ?It wasn?t long enough ? life should be life.?
?He should never see the light of day again. We won?t ever see Millie, her mummy won?t ever see her wee daughter and life should mean life.?
McCarney took Millie to Erne Hospital in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland after she sustained serious injuries from his attacks.
He was filmed trying to give her CPR, but the 15-month-old girl later died.
McCarney?s father Kevin insisted he was innocent of the murder and would be appealing against the verdict.
He said: ?We will be appealing the case and we know he will be proved innocent.?
In setting the minimum term McCarney must serve of his life sentence, Mr Justice Ben Stephens explained that the sentencing framework in Northern Ireland was very different to that in England and Wales, where a whole life term could be handed down.
He said the offence was serious enough to use the upward starting point guide of 15 to 16 years.
Explaining that aggravating features, among them the vulnerability and fragility of the victim, required him to make a ?substantial upward adjustment?, he told McCarney he would have to serve at least 25 years.
Once the 25-year term is spent, McCarney can only be released, on licence, if parole commissioners deem he no longer presents a danger to the public.
Setting the minimum sentence McCarney must serve, judge Ben Stephens told the labourer at Belfast Crown Court he was a ?deeply manipulative man?.
McCarney was also found guilty of grievous bodily harm with intent and sexual assault of Millie.
Mr Stephens told him he must serve at least six and two years for those crimes respectively, but those terms will run concurrently with his murder tariff.
McCarney, clean shaven and dressed in a grey jumper, showed little emotion as the judge delivered his sentencing decisions.
His ex-girlfriend Ms Martin looked on from the public gallery. At the same trial last year, she was acquitted of charges of allowing her daughter?s death and cruelty through wilful neglect.
McCarney met Ms?Martin just three months before the little girl?s death.
He quickly eased his way into the family home in?Enniskillen,?which allowed him access to Millie.
The judge said McCarney had duped Ms Martin into believing he cared for Millie and she was therefore willing to leave her daughter alone with him.
He said: ?You gained the total trust of Rachael Martin, you appeared to her to be very good to Millie,? he said.
On the night the toddler sustained the fatal injuries, McCarney had persuaded his girlfriend to go out to a shop to buy him a chocolate bar.
Justice Stephens said he was already on his way up the stairs with the intention of sexually abusing the young child in her bed as Ms Martin was reversing her car out of the driveway.
The judge said McCarney had struck Millie?s head on a hard surface in response to her cries as he inflicted a brutal sexual assault. That head injury would ultimately kill her.
Multiple bruises were also found on the youngster?s body along with a clearly visible oval shaped bump on her forehead.
During the post-mortem examination, the pathologist found injuries to her?abdomen caused by punching or prodding which would also have been fatal.
Millie had also been sexually assaulted. The prosecution described the attacks on her as vile and sadistic.
McCarney blamed Millie?s mother, claiming at trial that she had inflicted the injuries on her own daughter and that he was sickened by her death.
Speaking only through his barrister, he alleged that Ms Martin did not want social services involved because she had done these ?terrible things? herself.
But in a case with no forensic evidence to suggest who inflicted Millie?s injuries, the jury rejected McCarney?s claims and accepted that Ms Martin had unwittingly let a monster into her home, taking just three hours to reach a?unanimous?verdict.
He was found guilty of murder, sexual assault and causing grievous bodily harm.
Ms Martin?s family issued a statement saying the family would now be able to grieve properly as a result of the verdict.
They described the last three years as a ?waking nightmare? and described McCarney as a ?disgusting individual?.
They also questioned why Ms Martin was ever prosecuted in the first place.
Her brother, Matthew, speaking on behalf of the family said the police decision to prosecute her was ?shocking? at a time when she should have been left to grieve for baby Millie.
Outside court, Ms Martin?s stepfather Noel Graham said he was pleased McCarney, who he described as a ?scumbag?, would be off the streets away from women and children.
He said: ?We have been dealt a life sentence which will never go away.?
On McCarney?s protestations of innocence, Mr Graham added: ?If he had have been half a man he would have gone into the court and told the jury (the truth) and didn?t leave everything unanswered.?
@MailOnline
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