Parents who murdered 13-week-old son have sentences increased

A mother and father whose baby suffered 41 fractures before they killed him have had their sentences increased after the Attorney General intervened. 

Nivalda Santos Pirjani, 35, and Klevi Pirjani, 37, of Seacombe, Wallasey had their minimum terms increased by two and a half years each to 17 years and 9 months and 21 years and 6 months respectively after the Attorney General, Ellie Reeves KC MP, referred their sentences to the Court of Appeal under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme. 

The court heard that their son, Miguel Pirjani, had spent the first month of his life in hospital before being discharged into his parents’ care. 

Within days of returning home, Miguel Pirjani was assaulted for the first time, suffering two fractured ribs. The abuse continued and escalated over the following weeks. 

On 24 November 2024, when Miguel Pirjani was 13 weeks old, his parents subjected him to a fatal assault involving a heavy blow or series of blows to his head. Paramedics restarted his heart, but he never regained consciousness and died in Alder Hey children’s hospital five days later. 

Medical examinations found that Miguel Pirjani had suffered 41 fractures in total, including injuries to his ribs, legs, arm, collarbone and spine, inflicted during repeated assaults over several weeks. 

The judge said it was not possible to determine which parent had inflicted the fatal injuries, but found that they had acted together and that whichever parent carried out the violence was encouraged by the other. 

The Attorney General, Ellie Reeves KC MP said: 

Miguel Pirjani was a defenceless baby who had an entire life to live, yet he suffered appallingly cruel violence at the hands of the two people who should have protected him. 

This was a truly harrowing case, and my thoughts are with everyone who loved and cared for him.