"What have you done?" mother asked father on trial for murdering infant son

A murder trial at the Central Criminal Court heard paediatric evidence challenging the prosecution's account of how tissue came to lodge in a six-month-old boy's throat. Dr Hilary Stokes testified that an infant of Joshua Sussbier Tighe's developmental stage could not have manually formed, chewed, or swallowed the compressed tissue wad recovered during post-mortem examination. She further stated the object could not have become positioned as described through any attempted removal process. Dr Stokes also confirmed that accidental choking remains the most frequent cause of death in infants under twelve months. John Tighe, aged 40, of Lavallyroe in Ballyhaunis, County Mayo, denies murdering his son on 1 June 2013. The prosecution alleges he deliberately placed tissue in the child's throat, causing fatal asphyxiation. The defence maintains the death was accidental, with Mr Tighe claiming the child grabbed and swallowed tissue whilst he was briefly absent from the room. Forensic examination had previously established that tissue from two separate boxes was lodged in the infant's throat—three-ply paper from a bedroom source and two-ply from a sitting room source. A post-mortem identified an egg-shaped wad measuring five by three and a half centimetres. Blood evidence on Mr Tighe's clothing was noted, though defence counsel suggested this was consistent with attempts to assist a choking child. The trial also heard that upon arrival at the home, the child's mother asked the accused: "What have you done?" Earlier evidence showed Mr Tighe had urged a doctor who attended the scene to intervene, though medical assessment confirmed the child was already deceased. The case continued before Justice Patrick McCarthy and a jury at the Central Criminal Court.