LG, R. v

The Court directed that the identities of the defendant and the injured party should not be disclosed or reported and that their identities should be anonymised. The defendant is known as LG and the injured party as F in these remarks.

[1]������ The defendant has pleaded guilty to the one count on this indictment that of inflicting grievous bodily harm upon his son, F, on 30 December 2017.� At the time of the offence F was 12 weeks old.� At that time the defendant was 39 years old.� He was married to his wife in 2016 and F was their first child.� His wife had previously suffered a miscarriage.

[2]������ On 30 December 2017 the defendant and his wife were at home in County Down.� �His wife made a 999 call at 04.14 hours.� She told the emergency operator that her baby was not breathing properly.� She said that his eyes were slightly open but he was not breathing and was unresponsive.� Instructions were given to carry out CPR.� It was said that F had milk in his mouth that he was trying to bring up and he was taking gasps.� There is no doubt that the defendant himself carefully carried out the instructions regarding CPR and that his efforts at resuscitating F were genuine.

[8]������ The effect on F of what occurred has been very profound.� The court has been furnished with a report from Dr Larkin, a consultant paediatrician who has known F since he was referred to her in June 2018.� The court has also seen correspondence between Dr Larkin and various experts who are caring for F.� He has the following medical issues:

                 i.            An acquired brain injury