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Irish Times
16-05-2025
- Irish Times
Father accused of shaking his infant daughter walks free from court as jury acquits him of all charges
A 31-year-old man has walked free from court after a jury found him not guilty of a series of charges where it was alleged that he had shaken his five-month-old daughter and caused her harm and unnecessary suffering. The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his daughter, denied all three charges, which the State alleged occurred while the infant was in his care at their family home in Cork over a six-week period between November 25th, 2020, and January 4th, 2021. He was charged with causing serious harm to the child on January 4th, 2021, and with assault causing harm to the child between November 25th and December 15th, 2020. The man was also charged with wilfully assaulting or ill-treating the child in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering to the child's health or seriously affect the child's wellbeing. READ MORE A jury of five men and seven women at Cork Circuit Criminal Court on Friday unanimously found the man not guilty of the assault causing harm charge. They returned majority verdicts acquitting him of the charges of causing serious harm and ill-treatment. Judge Dermot Sheehan thanked the jury for their diligence and deliberation before informing the accused that he was free to go. The man was immediately embraced by his mother, who had sat through the nine-day trial at Anglesea Street courthouse in Cork. Prosecution counsel Jane Hyland SC had called evidence from consultant paediatrician Dr Rosina McGovern, who said the accused and his partner brought the child to Cork University Hospital on January 4th, 2021, and offered no explanation for the many injuries the child had. These included bruises on her face, cheek, stomach, abdomen and buttock and abrasions on her forehead, cheek and nose, and a fractured collarbone. A CT scan showed bleeding on the brain and behind the eyes – injuries the court heard are usually associated with a high-impact collision such as a car crash. Dr McGovern said the brain injuries, which were caused by a back-and-forth acceleration and deceleration movement, were consistent with abusive head trauma or shaken baby syndrome . She said she believed the injuries constituted serious harm as defined in Irish law. However, the accused testified that he had never shaken the baby. He said he told social workers he had done so in an attempt to ensure his partner would keep the child, who they feared they might never get to see again if one of them did not say he had shaken the girl. He also said that earlier admissions about twice dropping the child accidentally were similarly made in order to provide an explanation to the hospital authorities for the child's injuries. He said they were told they would not be allowed to take the child home until the injuries were explained. The accused spent almost three hours in the witness box and his mother and his partner's mother also gave evidence, as did hospital consultants, social workers and investigating gardaí. The infant's mother did not attend the hearing or give evidence. Defence counsel Ray Boland SC made reference to the fact that the infant's mother was not called by the prosecution. He said the jury needed to pay particular heed to her absence, given how central she was to the narrative proposed by the prosecution. 'It is a huge [mother's name]-shaped hole in the case. Does [mother's name] look like a person who would shake a baby? We don't know. And we don't know why the DPP did not bring her,' he said to the jury. Mr Boland also suggested to the jury that only 'an eejit' would make admissions that he did something such as shake the baby if they had not done it. However, he said his client had done that was because he was young and out of his depth among professionals such as doctors and social workers. The jury heard memos of interviews from when gardaí questioned the accused. 'I didn't shake her, I swear to God I didn't do it,' he said. 'I know somebody did shake her, but I don't know who. I will maintain my innocence until the day I die. I did not shake my baby.'
Irish Examiner
08-05-2025
- Health
- Irish Examiner
Grandmother of baby at centre of child cruelty trial said infant 'did not look well at all' when she visited
The grandmother of the six-month-old baby girl at the centre of a child cruelty trial said the infant was making a strange noise from her throat and her eyes were dazed on the first day the baby's mother returned to work. The witness arrived at her daughter's home that day to see the baby on her father's knee. 'I went straight over to her and she did not look well at all. She appeared to be lethargic. She was making a strange noise in her throat. Her eyes were quite dazed. She just did not look right to me,' the infant's grandmother testified. The witness said the child's father said to his partner the child had vomited a couple of times and he had to change his clothes. The grandmother asked the defendant if he had given the infant Calpol and in that regard he replied: 'No, I didn't want to hurt her.' The child's grandmother gave her Calpol from a teaspoon. 'I said to [her daughter], you need to take her to the doctor… I said you need to call an ambulance,' she said. She also advised her daughter that whatever had occurred they should tell the hospital the truth about it. In a previous incident, the witness's daughter phoned again to say the baby had blood in her mouth. The witness thought it might have been an early tooth cutting the gum. On an occasion when she was minding the baby, she noticed a 'tiny, browny coloured bruise above her nipple'. This evidence was given in direct examination by prosecution senior counsel Jane Hyland. The cross-examination by Ray Boland senior counsel for the defence was adjourned until May 9. The infant's father denies counts of cruelty to the baby, assault causing harm, and causing her serious harm. The 31-year-old from Co Cork pleaded not guilty when arraigned at Cork Circuit Criminal Court, to three separate charges. He denied assault causing harm, assault causing serious harm, and cruelty to the child on various dates from November 25, 2020, to January 2021 when is daughter was around six months old. Much of Thursday, the third day of the trial, was spent in legal discussion, which had to be held in the absence of the jury. The 31-year-old father of the child from Co Cork pleaded not guilty to assault causing harm, assault causing serious harm and cruelty to his daughter — on various dates from November 25, 2020, to January 2021, when she was around six months old. Judge Dermot Sheehan asked the seven women and five men of the jury to return to Cork Circuit Criminal Court on May 9 for the case, which is expected to take at least until May 16. Read More Initial fears baby at centre of a child cruelty trial had suffered brain injury
RTÉ News
06-05-2025
- RTÉ News
Man pleads not guilty to assaulting infant daughter
A 31-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to seriously assaulting his five-month-old infant daughter, leaving her with bruises to her face and body, as well as a broken collar bone, and bleeding in the brain, among other injuries. The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared before Cork Circuit Criminal Court, where he pleaded not guilty to three charges, which the State alleges occurred while the infant was in his care at the family home over a six-week period between 25 November 2020 and 4 January 2021. The child's father is charged with causing serious harm to the child on 4 January 2021, contrary to Section 4 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997, and with assault causing harm to the child between 25 November and 15 December 2020, contrary to Section 3 of the same Act. The man is also charged with willfully assaulting or ill-treating the child in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering to the child's health or seriously affect the child's wellbeing, contrary to Section 246 of the Children's Act 2001. Opening the prosecution case, Senior Counsel Jane Hyland told the jury of seven women and five men that they would hear from a number of witnesses, including childcare workers, the infant's grandmother, and medical staff who treated the child on her admittance to hospital on 4 January 2021. They would hear evidence from childcare workers of a bruise to the child's left cheek, and from her grandmother who also had concerns about bruises on the baby's chest and face in late November and early December 2020. The grandmother would say how she was called to the family home on 4 January 2021 and found the child looking "very distressed and lethargic" before the parents took the child to Cork University Hospital. Ms Hyland said the defendant was interviewed in the days that followed his daughter's admittance to hospital and allegedly told one social worker that he had "accidentally" dropped the infant, while he allegedly later told another social worker that he had shaken the baby on two separate occasions. When hospitalized on 4 January 2021, doctors found the child had bruises to her face, cheek, stomach, abdomen and buttock, as well as a fractured collar bone, an injury to deep soft tissue under the spine and blood on the surface of the brain and bleeding behind the eyes. Her father has denied all three charges.
Irish Examiner
06-05-2025
- Irish Examiner
Cork man on trial for cruelty to and assault of his infant daughter denies charges
The trial of a 31-year-old father accused of cruelty to his own baby daughter and counts of assault causing harm and causing serious harm to the infant commenced on Tuesday. Opening the case, prosecution senior counsel Jane Hyland said the anticipated evidence included answers allegedly given by the accused man when asked questions by social workers. 'He told relevant social workers he had dropped [baby's name] at home. Subsequent to that, at a further meeting, he told the relevant social worker that in fact he had shaken her on two separate occasions in December 2019, and again on the morning of January 4, 2020. 'That is the State's case. It is a case that is very difficult for people but you [the jury] must try and approach it as dispassionately as you can. 'You may have an overwhelming sympathy for the child. We are not expecting you to be machines. In the alternative, you may have sympathy for the accused person. I would ask you to listen as carefully as you can to what could be distressing evidence,' Ms Hyland said. The accused man cannot be named in coverage of the case. This is because of protections for the child in the case under the Children's Act. The 31-year-old from Co Cork pleaded not guilty when arraigned at Cork Circuit Criminal Court, to three separate charges. He denied assault causing harm, assault causing serious harm, and cruelty to the child — on various dates from November 25, 2020, to January 2021, when his daughter was about six months old. Outlining the anticipated evidence to be given over the next two weeks, Ms Hyland said creche workers encountering the infant would give evidence of bruising and marks to her face, and steps taken by these staff in relation to their concerns at that time. Other injuries allegedly observed included blood in the baby's eyes. A social worker attending the family's home found the baby was distressed and lethargic and she was transferred to hospital following an initial visit to South Doc. On admission to hospital, a consultant paediatrician and consultant ophthalmologist examined the infant and they were immediately concerned for her, Ms Hyland said, adding they found bruising to her face, abdomen and buttocks, a fractured collarbone, and in scans they found blood on the surface of the brain and tearing of the brain's connective fibres. 'It was the kind of injury usually seen in a high-impact motor vehicle accident,' Ms Hyland said. Consultant ophthalmologist Dr Sarah Moran testified she found extensive haemorrhage in the retina of both eyes, 'highly suggestive' of shaken baby syndrome or abusive head trauma, and she did not believe it could not have occurred in an accidental fall. Cross-examined by defence counsel Ray Boland SC, Dr Moran agreed her concerns about long-term damage to eyesight were not 'borne out yet'. Judge Dermot Sheehan asked the seven women and five men of the jury to return to Cork Circuit Criminal Court on May 7 for the case, which is expected to take at least until May 16.
Irish Examiner
28-04-2025
- Irish Examiner
Cork man who assaulted another man causing serious harm brought €12,000 compensation to court
A 22-year-old Cork man who admitted a charge of assault causing serious harm to another man brought €12,000 compensation to court on Monday. Jane Hyland, senior counsel for Louis Herdman, asked Judge Helen Boyle to direct the preparation of a probation report on the young man in advance of sentencing. 'He does not have previous convictions and he does not have addiction issues, but Section 4 (of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act) is a serious offence. 'A substantial amount of compensation has been raised already and he intends to raise more,' Ms Hyland said. Prosecution barrister Emmet Boyle said €12,000 had been given to the prosecution by way of compensation for the injured party. As well as adjourning the case for the probation report, time was needed to allow for the preparation of a victim impact statement. Judge Boyle adjourned the case until November 14 in those circumstances at Cork Circuit Criminal Court. The accused confirmed his signed plea of guilty, previously entered at Cork District Court. Detective Garda Bryan Murphy charged Louis Herdman, of River's Edge, Clash Road, Cork, that on February 8, 2024, on Grand Parade Cork, he intentionally or recklessly caused serious harm to a 21-year-old man, contrary to Section 4 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act. No details of the incident have been given in court so far.
