Sarah Ngaba Receives Life Sentence for Daughter Eliza's Murder in Telford

A woman from Telford, Shropshire, has been sentenced to a minimum of 19 years in prison for the murder of her infant daughter. Sarah Ngaba, 32, received a life sentence at Birmingham Crown Court following her conviction in May.

Ngaba admitted to inflicting “dreadful, life-shortening and life-limiting” head injuries on Eliza in 2019 but had denied murder when her daughter died in 2022. Justice Brunner KC stated, “Eliza should have had a long and happy life,” adding, “You are a person who loses your temper and lashes out.” The judge concluded that Ngaba had “never given a full and truthful account of what happened” and was “satisfied you attacked her in a fit of rage.”

Eliza died from a respiratory infection, rendered vulnerable by the severe skull fracture for which Ngaba was already serving a 14-year jail term. Ngaba was imprisoned in May 2021 for the initial assault, leading to Eliza's placement in foster care. The assault left the child profoundly disabled and highly susceptible to severe complications from infections. Evidence presented during the trial indicated that Eliza would not have succumbed to such an infection had she not been so severely compromised by the injuries inflicted by Ngaba 33 months earlier.

Prosecutor Lisa Hancox informed the court that medical evidence confirmed Eliza’s injuries resulted from “two distinct and different mechanisms – that is shaking and impact,” suggesting a “prolonged” attack. Hancox highlighted Ngaba’s increasing hostility towards Eliza before the assault and described her reaction to the infant’s collapse as “callous and uncaring.”