Dad jailed for shaking baby son to death
Cleveland PoliceA father who "vigorously" shook his baby son to death has been jailed for at least 14 years.
Bradley Thomas, 23, of Redcar, fatally injured three-month-old Emmerson Oak Thomas in the early hours of 5 October last year and then lied about his actions, Teesside Crown Court heard.
Thomas claimed his son was injured falling from his lap, but prosecutors said the injuries were akin to a car crash or three-storey plummet on to concrete.
Thomas was found guilty of murder and given a life sentence with a minimum term, with a judge saying he had "denied" his son a life.
The trial jury had heard Thomas, a window cleaner, performed the night feeds for his son and had got up with him at about 02:00 BST on 5 October, taking him to their living room.
At about 05:00, he took a video of his son, who was three months and 16 days old, wheezing and having some kind of seizure but did not call 999 until half an hour later when he had woken his partner for help, prosecutor Emma Dowling said.
The baby was "clearly in distress" after being "vigorously and forcefully shaken" but Thomas "failed to get immediate action for his son", the court heard.
Emmerson's injuries were "so catastrophic death was inevitable", but Thomas "did not know that", Dowling said.
He "lied" to everyone "frustrating any potential treatment for his son", the jury was told.
The court heard Emmerson's mother, who spoke in support of Thomas during the trial, had declined to make a victim statement.
In mitigation, Nicholas Lumley KC said Thomas had been a "loving father" and "nobody can believe he did what the jury found to him to have done".
'Shattered idyllic life'
His honour Mr Justice Sheldon KC said Thomas shook his son with "such violence and force he was caused severe and irreversible brain injuries".
Emmerson was declared dead at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Infirmary three days later, the court heard.
The judge said Emmerson was a healthy baby with a "lovely smile" who had "already brought much joy" to his family.
He had his "whole life ahead of him", but Thomas "denied" him of that life.
The judge said Thomas had been a "loving and caring father" but he "shattered" the "idyllic life" he and Emmerson's mother had built together.
Thomas "knew far more about what happened" than he told those "trying to save Emmerson's life", the judge said, with Thomas' lies a result of panic, shame and "an attempt to avoid any blame".
Even at the trial, when he was confronted with a "considerable amount of high quality expert evidence", Thomas still "did not face up to the truth" and instead maintained it was a "freak accident".
The judge said said he was "sure" Thomas was "exhausted" and became "frustrated" when his young son would not settle or take his bottle.
"You lost your temper," the judge told Thomas, adding: "For a minute or so you shook Emmerson with so much force he was caused fatal injuries.
"You regretted what you had done immediately afterwards. You hoped Emmerson would recover but tragically that did not happen."
The court heard Thomas would have to serve 14 years, minus the 279 days he has already been incarcerated for, before he could be considered eligible for parole.
