Mother describes holding son, 4, as life support turned off - as child's father faces justice

Delivering an emotional victim impact statement at the Central Criminal Court today, the woman said that even at four years of age her 'beautiful brown eyed boy had so much potential'

The mother of a four-year-old boy, whose father misreported his child's fatal injuries as having been caused by a fall from his bunk bed, has described holding the boy in her arms as his life support machine was turned off.

Delivering an emotional victim impact statement at the Central Criminal Court today, the woman said that even at four years of age her "beautiful brown eyed boy" "had so much potential" and she could not wait to watch him grow but his life had been "robbed" from him.

The mother said when she walked into the hospital room that day her "beautiful little child" was "hooked up to all wires". "His little head was 10 times bigger than normal, it was that swollen and he was black and blue," she added.

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The woman said on the day of her son's funeral the boy's father had stood up "in Holy God's house and told everyone how much he loved [the boy] and that [the boy] was a superhero". "How could he," she added.

The 35-year-old defendant, who cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared at the court today for his sentence hearing having pleaded guilty last March to charges of endangerment, neglect and impeding the apprehension of the person who he knew or believed to have murdered the child. The incident took place in the southwest of the country three years ago.

A postmortem report revealed that the boy's cause of death was traumatic head injury in association with blunt force trauma to the abdomen. The child was found at a house in the southwest of the country on March 13, 2021. He died three days later in hospital on March 16 in Dublin.

Today's sentencing also heard that paramedics and hospital staff had noted extensive old and new bruising all over the boy's body including around his eyes and ears. When asked by doctors how the boy had sustained the bruising, the defendant said his son, who he claimed was "clumsy" and "hyperactive", had fallen into a door two weeks previously.

The court was told medical staff in the hospital were of the view that the bruising was the result "of a non-accidental injury". Under cross-examination today, a detective garda agreed with defence counsel Brian McInerney SC alongside Maria Brosnan BL that his client was a very hard working man, who worked a considerable number of hours.

The prosecutor said the defendant's co-accused and former partner had pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of the boy but that this was not acceptable to the Director of Public Prosecutions. A date had not yet been fixed for the woman's trial. The man has pleaded guilty to reporting the cause of his son's injuries as an accidental fall to a garda station in the southwest of the country, with intent to impede the apprehension or prosecution of another person, knowing or believing them to be guilty of murdering the child or some other arrestable offence, on March 24 2021.

He has also pleaded guilty to intentionally or recklessly endangering the child, by causing or permitting him to be placed or left in a situation that created a substantial risk to him of being a victim of serious harm, while being a person who had authority or control over the child, on March 13 2021.

The defendant has further pleaded guilty to wilfully causing or procuring or allowing the child to be assaulted in a manner likely to cause him unnecessary suffering or injury to his health or seriously to affect his wellbeing, while being a person having custody, charge or care of the child, between March 6 and 12, 2021.

In addition, the man has also pleaded guilty to wilfully neglecting the child in a manner likely to cause him unnecessary suffering or injury to his health or seriously to affect his wellbeing by failing to provide adequate medical aid to him, while being a person having custody, charge or care of the child, on March 13 2021.

Aoife O'Leary BL, prosecuting, previously told Mr Justice Paul McDermott that a nolle prosequi would be entered on count six (meaning the State will not be proceeding with a third count of child cruelty) on the indictment and that she would be asking the court to take count eight (a fourth count of child cruelty) into account in due course.

At the defendant's sentencing hearing today, the boy's mother placed a framed picture of her son on the witness box before she proceeded to read her victim impact statement to the court. The deceased's mother said her son was "such a soft little boy". She said she had received "the worst phone call any mother could get" from a guard on March 13, telling her that her son had been in "a bad accident". She said she knew "something bad had happened".

The woman said when she arrived at the hospital she asked to see her son and was told he was in a "critical condition and was still in theatre so I had to wait". She said she found it very strange that the defendant "wasn't around".

She added: "I don't know how long I'd to wait for him to come out of the theatre but it felt like days. When I was waiting I walked out to the smoking area and [the defendant] was there so I asked him what happened [the boy]. [The defendant] told me [the boy] had fell off a bunk bed. I was then told I could see [the boy]."

The mother said she saw her "beautiful little child hooked up to all wires" when she walked into the hospital room. "His little head was 10 times bigger than normal, it was that swollen and he was black and blue".

The woman said when her son came out of the theatre she saw "all the doctors" and she knew "it was something bad". "They told me there was nothing else they could do for him. My whole world ended when I heard those words. My beautiful brown eyed baby. I then told them there must be something for him so they sent him to Temple Street Hospital for more scans. He was on a life support machine".

When doctors told her that there was nothing more they could do for her son the woman said she had to make the "hardest decision a mother could make, to turn off his life support machine". She said doctors had put her son in her arms the next day and she had to watch her "beautiful little child's heartbeat go down and down" before it flat lined.

She said she planned her son's funeral and that the day he was brought to the church her ex-partner had stood up "in Holy God's house and told everyone how much he loved [the boy] and that [the boy] was a superhero".

The woman added: "How could he. [The boy's] life is gone, down to the hands of his father but he passed away in March and not til August did I find out my beautiful son's life was actually taken at the hands of pure evil. Someone he loved and trusted. I ended up in the hospital that day in shock"

She said her son's life was "robbed" and "even at four he had so much potential". "He would be making his First Holy Communion next year. I couldn't wait to watch him grow".

She said after her son passed away her "whole world was gone". "My perfect little boy, I will never see his face again. I just couldn't and still can't understand why. Our lives are just broken without him, I can't even put it into words....nothing will be the same without our beautiful brown eyed boy".

In another victim impact statement read to the Central Criminal Court today, the boy's grandfather said he missed the child every day and that he should still be alive. "He should now be attending school with his friends. He should be playing with them. But he is not. His life was cut short in March 2021. I was told that he had fallen from a bunk bed but I did not believe this".

The statement continued: "I believe he was seriously injured by another person. He died from these injuries. I have a list of 'if onlys'; if only he had not been in that place at that time, if only he had a caring adult on his side at that time, if only he was taken quickly to hospital at that time".

He said he sees his daughter - the boy's mother - "suffering". "Her life has been shattered. We know that any legal measure will not bring [him] back and we are doing our best not to be bitter. However, his father was present when [the boy] was injured but did not protect him. For this I say to [the boy's] father, 'Shame on you',".

Mr Justice Paul McDermott adjourned the case until October 11 and remanded the defendant in custody until then.

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