Father accused of baby murder denies causing injuries
A father accused of murdering his nine-week-old son denies having caused him any injuries – including a bite mark on his arm and fractures to his ribs.
Luke Morgan said he did not see any injuries on Tyler Morgan, nor did he deliberately ignore signs that his son was injured, Stafford Crown Court heard yesterday.
Prosecutors say Luke Morgan and Emma Cole, the child’s mother, intentionally smothered or compressed the baby’s chest at their home in Sunnymead Road, Burntwood, in the early hours of April 29, 2014.
When asked by prosecutor Mr Andrew Smith QC, under cross-examination, if he knew that Tyler had serious injuries, he replied “No, I did not”.
And when asked about any obvious signs that the child was in distress, Morgan said: “He was just having a bad day to us.”
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He said: “I did not cause the bite mark. I did not encourage Emma to cause the bite mark.
“I did not fracture Tyler’s ribs. I did not encourage Emma to fracture Tyler’s ribs. I did not see any injury. I never saw any injuries to Tyler.
“I did not see anything at all on him. No marks, nothing at all.”
'Colder than usual'
Morgan told the jury he had used the words “cot death” when paramedics arrived at their home, because that’s what he thought it was as there was “no explanation how he [Tyler] had died at all.”
When Morgan made his final check on baby Tyler, he described him as feeling “colder than usual”.
The jury had previously heard that Morgan said it took him an hour to wake a sleeping Cole, but he told the court on Tuesday that it could not have been that long and maybe “10 to 15 minutes at most”.
He added: “It felt like a long time, maybe I worded it wrong because I was just in shock.
"She was in a deep sleep at that point. I was shouting at her to wake up, shaking her and then she woke up.”
Despite saying Tyler had been difficult to care for in the day before, Morgan denied that this had made him frustrated or angry.
When asked by Mr Smith QC if he was criminally responsible for his son’s death, Morgan said: “No, I would never do a thing like that, ever.”
Asked by his defence Mr Mark Heywood QC if he ever thought there was something putting Tyler at risk of serious harm while they were all living together in the flat, Morgan replied “No, nothing.”
Cole, 22, and Morgan, 26, both of Byron Close, Burntwood, deny murder, manslaughter, causing or allowing an infant’s death, and child cruelty.
The trial continues.
