Dad jailed for life for murder of infant son seeks to overturn conviction

John Tighe of Lavallyroe, Ballyhaunis, County Mayo, remains in prison serving a mandatory life sentence following the dismissal of his conviction appeal at the Court of Appeal in March 2023. He was found guilty by unanimous jury verdict in March 2018 of murdering his six-and-a-half-month-old son in June 2013. The child died from asphyxiation caused by tissue lodged in his throat. During the trial, the prosecution presented evidence that tissue from two separate boxes was recovered from the infant's airway during postmortem examination. Forensic pathology evidence indicated the child could not have self-inflicted such an injury or ingested the material independently. The defence maintained the death was accidental, claiming the child had reached the tissue during an unattended moment. Tighe's appeal centred on a procedural challenge regarding the admissibility of postmortem findings. The trial judge had permitted extracts from a report prepared by the former Deputy State Pathologist to be presented through an alternative expert via video link, as the original pathologist was unavailable to attend trial for cross-examination. The defence argued this breached fair trial principles by preventing direct challenge to the original pathologist's conclusions. The three-judge Court of Appeal panel, led by Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy, rejected the challenge. The court determined that the postmortem report constituted a proper factual record within legal bounds and that no unfairness resulted from its admission. Crucially, expert evidence based on those findings had been subject to full cross-examination before the jury. The State's counsel had argued the subsequent expert was instructed based on independent medical recommendations and provided his own independent assessment. With the appeal dismissed, Tighe will continue serving his life sentence.