A Co Antrim man who battered, shook and almost squeezed the life out of a newborn baby has been handed a 22-year jail sentence.
The November 2019 assault by Christopher Fulton (35) left the four-week-old bruised, blind and brain damaged.
His wife, Amanda Fulton (36), was sentenced to four years, of which half is to be served in jail and half on licence, for two counts of child cruelty by the wilful neglect of the four-week-old baby.
The pair are from Rockfield Gardens in Mosside near Ballymoney, Co Antrim.
READ MORE
Paediatric consultants previously told the court that the child’s injuries were similar to those that might be expected following a high-impact car crash or falling several storeys. Among the injuries were a fractured skull, brain and retinal bleeding, 27 rib fractures, thigh, shin and wrist fractures and a lacerated liver.
At Newry Crown Court on Friday, Judge Peter Irvine said Fulton is “dangerous in relation to young children”.
As well as the 22-year jail term for grievous bodily harm with intent, the judge made Fulton subject to an extended licence period of five years.
The judge said that even when the baby was in hospital undergoing life-saving brain surgery, Christopher Fulton was “distracted and laughing” at videos on a mobile phone, displaying “a total disregard for his wellbeing”.
The extended custodial sentence means he must serve half his sentence before he can apply to the parole commissioners to be freed on licence.
Jailing Amanda Fulton, the judge said she “failed to protect” the child “knowing that your husband was quite capable of causing him physical harm”. Knowing the baby was “seriously ill, you neglected his wellbeing”, the judge added.
“Your dereliction of duty and care to [the baby] was unforgivable,” said the judge.
In addition to the jail sentences, the judge also imposed a restraining order barring the defendants from contacting the baby or his carers.
The pair’s convictions followed a five-week trial before a jury. Amanda Fulton was acquitted of grievous bodily harm and one charge of child cruelty.
The court heard the baby was unresponsive on the morning of November 7th, 2019, at the Fultons’ home at Rockfield Gardens just outside Ballymoney. Despite their concerns, neither defendant called a doctor for three hours.
In a victim impact statement, the baby’s foster mother said the moment she set eyes upon the baby in the hospital ward in November 2019 will be “forever etched on my mind and heart”. She had been asked to visit the child as part of her job.
“There in that huge hospital cot lay a tiny vulnerable little boy with a dressing on his head ... My mind just could not comprehend how a beautiful, precious baby boy could have come to such harm,” she said.
The foster mother asked what a four-week-old could “possibly have done to deserve to be a victim of such a heinous crime”.
She said doctors saved his life but could not reverse the damage.
With his legal status affected by his profound health needs, she worried he would spend the rest of his life moving between foster homes while “never really belonging”.
“I was so in love with him that I knew I would gladly give up my entire world for him and give him the life he deserved to have. I was never going to allow this little boy to be passed from home to home,” she said.
She brought him home with her when he was nine weeks old.
She said he has suffered significant bouts of cerebral irritability as a result of his brain injury, leading to episodes where he cries inconsolably for hours.
The now five-year-old has been registered blind, requires a wheelchair and has never uttered a word, she said.
“I will never hear him say I love you. He has been robbed of his ability to speak.”
Martin Hardy, assistant director of the Public Prosecution Service, said it was a “distressing case” involving a baby who was “completely dependent upon Christopher and Amanda Fulton for care and protection”.
“The callous way in which the infant was treated has had a devastating impact on the child’s quality of life,” he said. “I hope the conclusion of this case will bring some sense of closure to the foster family as they attempt to move forward in providing care and support.”
