MARK Stephenson was yesterday found guilty of killing his baby daughter.

The jury at Bristol Crown Court was told the 30-year-old snapped and shook his daughter Sacha with such force that the retinas in her eyes bled.

Stephenson then made a frantic phone call to his sister who found Sacha had turned grey, was limp and gasping for breath.

Sacha was left blind and deaf and died four months later.

Unemployed Stephenson denied the charge of manslaughter, but was found guilty by an 11 to one majority.

Sentencing was adjourned for psychiatric reports after the jury of six men and six women took eight hours to reach a verdict.

The court heard how Stephenson was given a seven year jail sentence in 1996 for attempted armed robbery.

In the early 1990s he was convicted for a string of violent offences including ABH and GBH.

John Royce, QC, prosecuting, said at an earlier hearing: "For one reason or another, this man lost his temper and got so stressed out that he shook that baby with a considerable force."

Sacha was born on July 6, 2000 and both mum Carolyn Iles, 24, and boyfriend Stephenson were delighted with the new arrival.

The couple redecorated their flat in Cricklade and a happy Stephenson showered Sacha who he called Princess with presents.

Carolyn got a job working night-shifts for a telesales firm while Stephenson babysat for his daughter. But on September 20 the court heard how tragedy struck as Stephenson settled down to watch a Rambo video. The prosecution claimed he shook the baby in a fit of rage, causing massive injuries.

Sacha was rushed to Swindon's Princess Margaret Hospital, where doctors described her condition as extremely serious.

Medics said the injuries were typical of violent shaking while Stephenson claimed he had taken Sacha for a walk on a bumpy path.

The baby was transferred to the specialist Bristol Children's Hospital on September 21 and Stephenson was arrested on suspicion of causing GBH.

Sacha was discharged a week later, but was "kept alive by a tube feeding her and had lost her sight and hearing''.

She went to stay with her mother and grandparents but suffered a massive fit and died on January 20.

In a letter to his girlfriend before her death, Stephenson claimed he had fallen off his go-ped while carrying Sasha.

He wrote: "'There are things you don't know about and please don't hate me for this but I know how the bleeding prior to that night happened.

"I was on my go-ped with the baby and we fell off but you must understand I do love my daughter."

The court heard how Stephenson also lied to police, claiming he had not shaken Sacha.

But it later emerged that bleeding on Sacha's brain had happened in an earlier incident suggesting a pattern of violent shaking.

Concerned medics dismissed his claim as it did not explain why Sacha had been found limp and struggling for breath.