Courts / Dublin / Report

Mother describes holding son (4) in arms as life machine turned off

Summary

An unnamed 35-year-old defendant appeared at the Central Criminal Court for sentencing after pleading guilty to charges related to the death of his four-year-old son in March 2021. The man admitted to wilfully causing or procuring the child's assault, wilfully neglecting him by failing to provide medical aid, and recklessly endangering the child. He also pleaded guilty to reporting the cause of the boy's injuries as an accidental fall to a garda station with intent to impede the apprehension of another person he believed guilty of murder. The court heard that the child died from traumatic head injury and blunt force trauma to the abdomen. While the defendant's co-accused pleaded guilty to manslaughter, the Director of Public Prosecutions did not accept that plea, and her trial date remains unfixed. The defendant, who previously received a suspended sentence for violent disorder, was not sentenced today. Mr Justice Paul McDermott adjourned the case until October 11 and remanded the defendant in custody until that date.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Mother describes holding son (4) in arms as life machine turned off. Charges or matters: the manslaughter of the boy but that this was not acceptable to the Director of Public Prosecutions; 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; 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; wilfully causing or procuring or allowing the child to be assaulted in a manner likely to cause him unnecessary suffer

When:

• March 13, 2021 Other
• March 16 Other
• March 24 2021 Incident
• March 13 2021 Incident
• March 6 Incident
• March 13 Incident
• March 2021 Hearing Or Sentence
• November 2020 Incident
• March 24 Other
• October 11 Adjournment
• 2024-07-29 Publication

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Sentence Violent Crime

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Read the original CNI report