A 28-year-old chef who fractured the leg of his six-week-old baby boy while he was changing his nappy has been placed on probation by Judge Bryan McMahon at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, pleaded guilty to assaulting the child in his south Dublin home on June 13th, 2004.
He is now living with his Swedish partner in her home country after Irish authorities transferred responsibility to the baby's mother's parents following a week in foster care in Ireland.
The baby remained in his maternal grandparents' care from December 2004 to June 2005 when his mother was again allowed to have full custody. The father then moved to Sweden in October 2005 where he lived with his partner, her parents and the baby until May this year when the couple set up their own home there with the baby.
Judge McMahon said it was "an unusual case" that appears more like "human tragedy than a criminal act".
He said that the accused had realised that drink had an adverse affect on him and that he acted totally out of character. He said it was a serious crime that had caused serious physical injuries to an infant but accepted that it fortunately was not going to have long-term consequences for the baby.
Judge McMahon took into account that the baby's mother and grandparents had taken a "Christian view" and had decided to forgive the man. He said a "draconian view" would therefore be ill-fitting to their opinions and he added that he didn't want to break up the family unit the couple had established with their baby.
He said he understood that a criminal conviction could cause the man further problems in Sweden and in Ireland and placed him on probation.
Sgt Gerry Cadden told prosecuting counsel Damien Colgan that the father was not used to drinking but that night he had drunk beer and stayed up till 5.30am playing cards with friends in the apartment he shared with his partner.
Before he went to bed at six o clock that morning he took the baby to change his nappy.
He said the child kicked his leg frantically as usual and he had to hold on tight to his ankles.
The baby then dirtied his foot after his left leg became free and the man became quite irritated. He told gardaí that he wrenched the baby's left leg outwards and he "heard a loud crack and the leg went limp".
The baby began to cry violently but he eventually settled him and he fell asleep in front of the television with the baby lying on his chest.
When his partner got up that morning the baby had slipped off the man's chest.
The woman later noticed that the baby was not moving his leg as he normally would and appeared to be in pain when put down on his left side, but he was due for his six-week routine check-up the next day so she thought no more about it.
The doctor noticed the next day that the baby had a sore hip and leg and sent him for an X-ray, which revealed that he had a fractured leg.
Sgt Cadden told Mr Colgan that after two meetings with gardai neither parent had volunteered how the baby got the injuries but later that week the father made some admissions to a social worker.
Sgt Cadden agreed with defending counsel Breffni Gordon that the father had expressed remorse and concern for both his child and his partner and was worried about the mother losing custody of her baby for his own actions.
The baby's mother told Mr Gordon that there were no medical implications for her baby and that she had no concern for the child's safety. She accepted that her partner never intended to hurt the infant.