Barnsley Dad Guilty of Murdering Baby Son
A Barnsley dad has been found guilty of murdering his 7-week-old son when he was left alone with him for 20 minutes.
Kieron Hutchinson suffered catastrophic brain damage when he was left with his dad Ian Hutchinson while his mum and grandma went out shopping.
The trial at Sheffield Crown Court heard that he may have inflicted the fatal injuries out of frustration because he didn’t have everything he needed to change his son's nappy.
The jury found 24-year-old Hutchinson from Goldthorpe in Barnsley, guilty of murder.
The court heard he was left alone with Kieron on September 3 last year after his wife Rebecca Hutchinson and his mother Georgina Hutchinson went to the supermarket.
He told doctors and police he had begun to change his son after the women left the house but found there were no wipes in the changing bag and rang his wife to tell her this.
Hutchinson told police that his son then became upset, coughed, went quiet and then stopped breathing.
Paramedics were called and Kieron was taken to Sheffield Children's Hospital, where he died four days later.
The baby suffered bleeding eyes and a seven-and-a-half centimetre skull fracture - injuries which must have been caused by an impact with a hard object and violent shaking.
Speaking after the verdict, Temporary Detective Inspector Ian Fidler, of South Yorkshire Police, described the case as “tragic”.
He said the family was not previously known to either police or social services and Kieron had been seen by a GP earlier that day and was found to be progressing as expected.
“This is a tragic case which led to the death of seven-week-old Barnsley baby Kieron Hutchinson at the hands of his father, Ian Hutchinson. Kieron was in the sole care of his father at the time of the incident,” Mr Fidler said.
“The jury found that the rapidity of Kieron's demise could only have been at the hands of his father. We hope this verdict provides some closure for the other family members, who have been devastated by this incident and the loss of a young child. We offer our deepest condolences to all those affected.”
Hutchinson will be sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court on Monday.
