John Tighe given life sentence for murdering infant son

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

John Tighe was sentenced to life in prison for murdering his six-and-a-half-month-old son, Joshua Sussbier Tighe, at his home in Lavallyroe, Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo, on 1 June 2013.

Tighe had pleaded not guilty. On 23 March 2018, a jury returned a unanimous guilty verdict after more than seven and a half hours of deliberation. Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy sentenced him to life imprisonment as prescribed by law. The proceedings were reported on 23 March 2018.

Tighe maintained that Joshua’s death was accidental. He told gardaí he had left a wad of tissue within the baby’s reach while he went to the toilet during a nappy change. He said that when he returned Joshua was choking and must have put the wad in his own mouth.

The prosecution called expert witnesses who said Joshua could not have formed or swallowed the wad removed from his throat at postmortem. It consisted of two pieces of scrunched-up tissue from different boxes.

The postmortem also found a tear to Joshua’s frenulum and injuries inside his throat and tongue. Tighe told gardaí the injuries must have resulted from his attempts to retrieve the tissue with his fingers. Consultant pathologist Dr Roger Malcolmson said the injuries were highly suspicious but agreed they could have been caused by those efforts.