Baby ‘shaken and battered by his father before he died of catastrophic injuries’

A baby was “shaken and battered” by his father days before he died of catastrophic injuries in his mother’s arms in hospital, a court has heard.

David Hollick, aged 29 and of Walsall, denies murdering his six-month-old son Kairo Jax Hollick, who died at Birmingham Children’s Hospital on February 12, 2020.

A jury of 10 women and two men at Birmingham Crown Court heard Kairo had suffered a non-survivable brain injury, at least two skull fractures and a fracture to his right arm.

Prosecutor David Mason KC told the court Kairo was in the care of his father when he was fatally injured on February 9.

He said it was their case that Kairo “had not only been shaken violently, but his head had been bashed at least twice” with a hard object by Hollick, of Primley Avenue, Walsall.

Opening the Crown’s case, Mr Mason said Hollick’s ex-partner Adina Johnson had dropped their son off at his home as usual on February 7 for the weekend and while Kairo had a cold at the time, she had no other concerns about his health.

Hollick was staying in the conservatory at his parents’ home due to a lack of bedroom space after moving back in with them when his relationship with Ms Johnson ended.

The court heard Hollick phoned Ms Johnson at 4.30am on February 9, but she did not answer because of the time, instead messaging him to say she would call him back later on.

Hollick immediately sent her a message telling her to “ring him back, it’s about Kai”.

Mr Mason told the jury: “What had happened? Well, I’m afraid that the sad reality of this case, ladies and gentlemen, is that to date we have no idea of what really happened to Kairo.

“David Hollick has so far failed, we say, to tell anyone the truth as to what he did to his little son.

“According to his account to his family and then to the police, the most that he ever admitted is shaking Kairo, but only after finding Kairo unresponsive.

“He has given simply no explanation at all as to how Kairo ended up unresponsive. He has given no explanation as to how his little boy suffered fractures to his skull and to his arm.

“He has given no explanation as to how it is that Kairo suffered bruising to his head and body, bruising that was later on found at the post-mortem.

“Nothing. There has been nothing by way of any sort of proper account from David Hollick as to what happened in those small hours of February 9, leading to Kairo being admitted to hospital with such severe injuries that he never recovered.”

The last person to see Kairo alive and well was Hollick’s brother James, who went into the conservatory at around midnight and saw them sleeping.

Mr Mason said: “The next thing that anyone knew was when David Hollick, at around 4.30am went into his father’s bedroom in what appeared to be a panicked state, saying that Kairo was not breathing and that he, quote, ‘didn’t want to lose him’.”

Kairo was driven to Walsall Manor Hospital, where Hollick told medical staff he had heard his baby son crying before he stopped breathing and claimed he only shook him to “wake him up”.

Scans showed Kairo was suffering from a bleed on the brain and a decision was made to transport him to Birmingham Children’s Hospital, but despite their specialist facilities, nothing could be done to save him.

Kairo was christened before his life support was switched off.

Experts are expected to tell the trial that Kairo’s unsurvivable brain injury happened at the same time as the fractures to his skull, believed to have been caused by direct blunt trauma, while a fracture to his right forearm could be timed to between three and seven days prior to his death.

Complex skull fractures occurred between three and six days prior to Kairo’s death, which Mr Mason said “fits into the timeframe that [he] was with his dad”.

He said: “What happened? What on earth happened to cause to that catastrophic brain injury, those fractures to Kairo’s skull and forearm?

“Why will he not tell us or anyone else what he did? That little boy couldn’t walk, he couldn’t even crawl. He had a cold. That was it.

“According to the expert who has looked at all the material in this case, Kairo suffered a significant shaking injury that was recognisably excessive, as well as two separate impact injuries against a hard unyielding surface to his head.

“This was, as experts say, all as a result of inflicted, not accidental, trauma.

“And it can all be timed to when Kairo was in his dad’s care in that conservatory, just before he became floppy and unresponsive.

“What has he done? Why won’t he tell us? Perhaps it is because he doesn’t want to admit that what he has done is kill his own son.

“The precise mechanism we will probably never know, but the evidence will show he has definitely done it.

“That is the prosecution case. That David Hollick has shaken and battered the head of his little son, causing him to lose consciousness and die.

“Only he knows what really happened, but it must have been very violent indeed, to have caused the injuries that we know he did.”

Hollick, who appeared in the dock wearing dark trousers and a white shirt and sat with his hands in his lap, denies murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter.

The trial, being heard by Mr Justice Dove, is expected to last three weeks.