Marv
March 13th, 2012, 12:53 PM
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2114048/Christopher-Roberts-Karen-Irvine-charged-murder-baby-Lucas.html
A four-month-old baby boy died as a result of 'deliberate and violent shaking,' a court heard today.
Christopher Roberts, 19, of Powys, North Wales, and Karen Irvine, 19, of Lancaster, have been charged with the murder of Lucas Irvine.
The youngster was admitted to Royal Lancaster Infirmary in November 2010 following an incident at his home in Lancaster.
He was transferred to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool with a bleed to the brain but died four days later on November 21, Preston Crown Court was told.
[...]
Mr Watson said: 'They have both told lies about the evidence from the very, very start. The prosecution submit that for both of them to tell so many lies from the very start is a clear sign that they were in this together,' he added.
Mr Watson also told the jury about two previous injuries which the baby had suffered just months before his death.
The baby was taken to hospital in August 2010 with a shoulder injury. Mr Watson said that Irvine lied about the cause of that injury as well, saying it was caused by the baby 'grabbing' the restraining straps in his pram as he was being lifted out.
Mr Watson said this explanation was 'inconceivable' but doctors did not suspect that the injury was non-accidental at the time.
Irvine later explained a graze to the toddler’s head as being caused when he fell out of a 'faulty' pram. Again, this injury was not thought to be 'significant' at the time, Mr Watson said.
The court heard that Irvine fell pregnant with twins at the age of 17 and that Roberts was not the father.
However, they started a relationship while she was pregnant and initially they lived with Irvine’s mother in Penrith, Cumbria, before moving to her grandmother’s house in Lancaster.
The court heard that the pair had a 'volatile' relationship.
Mr Watson said: 'One of them has clearly shaken Lucas, of that there is no doubt. They were the only two who were present in the house.'
A post mortem examination revealed that Lucas died from 'non-accidental head and spinal injury' and that his brain was 'massively swollen' which was consistent with “deliberate and violent shaking”.
[...]
The defendants deny murder, manslaughter and causing or allowing the death of a child.
The court heard that Roberts, of Knighton, Powys, later admitted to police that he and Irvine had had a conversation when they were at Alder Hey about 'what they should say to those investigating' and that Irvine had 'told him to be quiet' when paramedics arrived to attend to Lucas.
Irvine later told a family court that she was 'frightened' of Roberts and that she 'blamed him' for what had happened.
The trial, which is expected to continue for two weeks, is due to resume tomorrow at 10.30am.
http://i41.tinypic.com/4u9ff6.jpg
A four-month-old baby boy died as a result of 'deliberate and violent shaking,' a court heard today.
Christopher Roberts, 19, of Powys, North Wales, and Karen Irvine, 19, of Lancaster, have been charged with the murder of Lucas Irvine.
The youngster was admitted to Royal Lancaster Infirmary in November 2010 following an incident at his home in Lancaster.
He was transferred to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool with a bleed to the brain but died four days later on November 21, Preston Crown Court was told.
[...]
Mr Watson said: 'They have both told lies about the evidence from the very, very start. The prosecution submit that for both of them to tell so many lies from the very start is a clear sign that they were in this together,' he added.
Mr Watson also told the jury about two previous injuries which the baby had suffered just months before his death.
The baby was taken to hospital in August 2010 with a shoulder injury. Mr Watson said that Irvine lied about the cause of that injury as well, saying it was caused by the baby 'grabbing' the restraining straps in his pram as he was being lifted out.
Mr Watson said this explanation was 'inconceivable' but doctors did not suspect that the injury was non-accidental at the time.
Irvine later explained a graze to the toddler’s head as being caused when he fell out of a 'faulty' pram. Again, this injury was not thought to be 'significant' at the time, Mr Watson said.
The court heard that Irvine fell pregnant with twins at the age of 17 and that Roberts was not the father.
However, they started a relationship while she was pregnant and initially they lived with Irvine’s mother in Penrith, Cumbria, before moving to her grandmother’s house in Lancaster.
The court heard that the pair had a 'volatile' relationship.
Mr Watson said: 'One of them has clearly shaken Lucas, of that there is no doubt. They were the only two who were present in the house.'
A post mortem examination revealed that Lucas died from 'non-accidental head and spinal injury' and that his brain was 'massively swollen' which was consistent with “deliberate and violent shaking”.
[...]
The defendants deny murder, manslaughter and causing or allowing the death of a child.
The court heard that Roberts, of Knighton, Powys, later admitted to police that he and Irvine had had a conversation when they were at Alder Hey about 'what they should say to those investigating' and that Irvine had 'told him to be quiet' when paramedics arrived to attend to Lucas.
Irvine later told a family court that she was 'frightened' of Roberts and that she 'blamed him' for what had happened.
The trial, which is expected to continue for two weeks, is due to resume tomorrow at 10.30am.
http://i41.tinypic.com/4u9ff6.jpg