Top scientist jailed for abusing her adopted children

A leading scientist who assaulted and abused her three adopted children for almost a decade has been jailed.

Dr Jill Newcombe-Buley punched, slapped and suffocated the youngsters and even stamped on one with a stiletto heel, a court heard.

Newcombe-Buley – who has since been diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder – also plunged them into ice-cold baths and smothered them with a pillow during years of ‘systematic’ abuse.

One child was hit over the head with a dustbin, causing a gash, after the chemist gave up work but failed to cope with life as a mum and housewife.

Her husband, chemist Dr Nicholas Newcombe, admitted child neglect after he failed to report her to the authorities.

Newcombe-Buley, 45, from Prestbury, near Macclesfield, pleaded guilty to 15 charges of child cruelty at an earlier hearing and was sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court. She sobbed as she was jailed for four years by Judge Stephen Clarke, who agreed to an M.E.N request to lift reporting restrictions – enabling us to name the couple.

Newcombe, 43, of London Road, Hazel Grove, Stockport, admitted three charges of child neglect. He was given a 12-month sentence, suspended for a year.

His defence barrister Joanna Rodikis said he had been aware of ‘a small fraction’ of the abuse and did not witness it.

The children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, are now safe with new carers. The court heard the assaults and neglect happened at the former family home in Prestbury between 2001 and 2009.

Newcombe-Buley, a doctor of chemistry and high flyer in pharmaceutical research, became the ‘main carer’ while Newcombe worked for pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca. The court heard the eldest child ‘courageously’ alerted the authorities. There is no suggestion the abuse was sexual.

Judge Clarke said: “No children should be subjected to punching and slapping and believing they are to be

suffocated.

“They were plunged into cold water, struggling to try to stay alive. This was extreme cruelty over an extended period of time.”