The owner of a day care centre charged with shaking a ten-month-old baby so severely that he suffered a serious head injury has admitted committing the offence.

In Magistrates' Court yesterday Jacquelyn Fubler, 28, of Pearman's Hill West, Warwick, pleaded guilty to causing grievous bodily harm to Stephen Ebbin on July 6, 2001.

At the time, Fubler was the owner and manager of the Noah's Ark Day Care Centre in Warwick, where Stephen had been in her care.

After closing statements by senior Crown Counsel Lloyd Rayney and defence counsel Mark Pettingill, Magistrate Tyrone Chin ordered that the case be sent to the Supreme Court for sentencing and a social inquiry report be conducted. Fubler was remanded in custody pending sentencing.

Earlier in the trial, photographs of dark red bruises and markings on the arms, legs, and forehead of the child were presented to the court. Mr. Rayney said the nature of the injuries indicated the assault had occurred over several days and not from an isolated incident. He also pointed out that the child, now three-years-old was still suffering and now has to take speech therapy lessons.

"This injury is permanent," he said. " In most cases the victim makes a full recovery and life goes on, but the harsh reality is that this ten-month-old sustained serious head injuries which are irreversible. For the rest of his life Stephen will never be able to reach the full potential he may have reached.

"The child was placed in the care and custody of the defendant at a day care which she owned and operated. It was her responsibility to provide a safe place for parents to leave their kids and pick them up healthy and safe at the end of the day."

On Monday, Fubler was left to conduct her own defence after her lawyer Leo Mills withdrew from the case. The Crown heard evidence from several Police officers who testified that they had seen Stephen in a coma with bruises on various parts of his body. Dr. Alexander Baron, a paediatrician at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, told the court that Stephen was in a coma, had sustained a serious head injury and that his upper and lower limbs were shaking uncontrollably. He said Stephen had suffered serious brain injury caused by being shaken back and forth at a high velocity. He said this caused blood vessels in his brain to burst.

He was taken by air ambulance to Children's Hospital Boston for treatment. The court viewed photographs of crimson bruises on Stephen's cheek and forehead and a cut on his lower lip inflicted by a ring Fubler was wearing.

Mr. Pettingill said the defendant, a first-time offender, was a mother herself who was supporting a family.

"None of us like dealing with matters of this nature which involve young children and families," he said. "But for the benefit of the public we have to operate by the law with these matters and place the human emotion aside."

He pointed out that the Crown's submission to bring the case to Magistrates' Court meant that the case should stay at that level of the courts for sentencing.

"They started it here, they brought it here, and it has rolled on to this stage," he said.

Mr. Pettingill said a social inquiry report and a summary of evidence was "the only appropriate and fair course to follow at this stage" before the court passed judgment on Fubler.

As Fubler was remanded into custody, family of baby Stephen, including his grandfather Curtis Ebbin, crowded into the courtroom and shook hands with Mr. Rayney and co-counsel Shakira Dill .