The Aporia · Perth police officer who shook his newborn baby girl because her crying woke him up is sentenced

Quick Summary

A Perth police officer, Nickolas Wayne Peake, 30, was sentenced to a 10-month community-based order after pleading guilty to aggravated common assault on his five-week-old daughter in September. The incident occurred when the infant's crying woke him from sleep; he initially tried to soothe her but then shook her three times while she cried. Though the child did not sustain any injuries, Magistrate Paul Lyons emphasized that Peake betrayed a position of trust and faced the risk of causing severe harm. The officer has been stood down from his duties with the Western Australian Police Force pending rehabilitation programs.

Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-13, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Nickolas Wayne Peake, a 30-year-old police officer from Perth, was sentenced on Tuesday at the Midland Magistrates Court to a 10-month community-based order for shaking his newborn baby after she would not stop crying late one night. The court heard that Peake's wife had a difficult birth and they were struggling to adapt to their new lives, which led to extreme stress. When the baby wouldn't settle down in her bassinet next to the bed, Peake shook her three times before telling her to "shut the f--- up." He later confessed he "lost his shit," and his wife called a midwife who advised them to go to the hospital. The child did not suffer any injuries, but Magistrate Paul Lyons noted that the risk of catastrophic injury was high given Peake's position as an officer representing a position of trust.

Written for “Baby Shaking Incident Sentence” on 2026-10-13, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 6% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.

‘I lost it’: Sleep-deprived Perth cop sentenced for shaking five-week-old baby same event · 100%

The Sydney Morning Herald · 0.90 cosine similarity

⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 7% hedged 2 of 28 📰 publisher trust 61

“Both articles describe the sentencing of Nickolas Wayne Peake, a Perth police officer, for shaking his newborn baby in September, at the Midland Magistrates Court on the same day.”

Cite this article

APA MLA Chicago

Bunch, A. (2026, October 13). Perth police officer who shook his newborn baby girl because her crying woke him up is sentenced. Daily Mail. https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16205087/wa-police-nickolas-peake-assault-newborn-perth-sentence.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

1 of 18 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

not political

takes no side on a contested political question

Publisher signals

64/100

Daily Mail's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Crime & Law

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-10-13 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Daily Mail · 5218 article(s) · 14 correction(s) detected

Running correction rate · 14 correction(s)

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Clarifications and corrections

Who wrote this

Aaron Bunch

2 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

🔮 'Things could have been far worse than they turned out to be.'

2026-10-13 · assertive framing · Perth police officer who shook his newborn baby girl because her crying woke him up is sentenced

🔮 How social welfare is being rolled out to vulnerable families living in the nation’s economic engine room will be put under the microscope.

2026-10-09 · assertive framing · Squalor reports trigger outback children welfare probe

Also by Aaron Bunch

Squalor reports trigger outback children welfare probe

2026-10-09 · The Sydney Morning Herald

Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

Topics

Perth WA Police the Midland Magistrate's Court the Western Australian Police Force

Subjects

Peake PERSON · 8× Nickolas Wayne Peake PERSON · 2× Perth GPE · 2× Lyons PERSON · 1× Paul Lyons PERSON · 1× WA Police ORG · 1× the Midland Magistrate's Court ORG · 1× the Western Australian Police Force ORG · 1×

Narrative

The family called a midwife and went to a hospital the following day, where Peake cooperated with medical staff and police after the incident was reported. The child did not suffer any injuries, and it was not known if her head was supported during the assault. Magistrate Paul Lyons said it was serious offending and the risk of a catastrophic injury was high. 'It's also serious because of the position of trust you represent in respect to your daughter,' he said.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-13

🔮 'Things could have been far worse than they turned out to be.'

2026-10-13 · Daily Mail

Perth police officer who shook his newborn baby girl because her crying woke him up is sentenced · assertive framing

Claims (18 extracted, 1 hedged)

A sleep-deprived police officer 'lost his s**t' and shook his crying newborn daughter after she woke him, a court has been told. asserted

court → deprive → him

Nickolas Wayne Peake, 30, pleaded guilty to aggravated common assault of his five-week-old daughter at his family home in Perth in September. asserted

Peake → plead → September

He was sentenced in the Midland Magistrate's Court on Tuesday to a 10-month community-based order, with programs to help him rehabilitate. asserted

him → sentence → programs

Peake, who has been stood down from the Western Australian Police Force, was woken from his sleep by his crying daughter. asserted

who → stand → daughter

The officer initially tried to give the infant a dummy and cradled her to settle her. But when she continued to cry, he shook her three times back and forth 'after he lost his s**t' and said 'shut the f*** up'. asserted

he → try → *

The child's mother immediately intervened and took the couple's daughter from him. asserted

mother → intervene → him

Peake then left the room and immediately recognised his actions were unacceptable and was remorseful. asserted

actions → leave → room

Nickolas Wayne Peake, 30, was sentenced to a 10-month community-based order on Tuesday asserted

Peake → sentence → Tuesday

The WA Police officer pleaded guilty to aggravated common assault of his five-week-old daughter in September at his family home in Perth. asserted

officer → plead → Perth

he → call → daughter

'(It) represents a betrayal of trust to your daughter and your broader family. asserted

It → represent → daughter

'Things could have been far worse than they turned out to be.' uncertain

they → turn → ?

The court heard Peake was struggling financially and had been stressed after a violent incident at work and his daughter's traumatic birth. asserted

Peake → hear → work

His daughter was also suffering colic and reflux and crying uncontrollably. asserted

daughter → suffer → colic

The court heard that Peake had'lost his s**t' and shook his crying newborn daughter after she woke him Peake and his wife, who was also not named in the court, were getting only a few hours' sleep per night, the court heard. asserted

court → hear → night

In sentencing, Magistrate Lyons said the actions were unacceptable and a strong deterrent message must be sent to the community. asserted

message → say → community

He rejected Peake's application for a spent conviction. asserted

He → reject → conviction

Still wearing his wedding ring, a tight-lipped Peake refused to answer reporters' questions as he left court. asserted

he → wear → court