A former asylum-seeker allegedly lifted his baby son out of bed and took him into another room where the child was beaten to death, a murder trial has heard.
Mr Yusif Ali Abdi, a Somalian with an address at The Elms, College Road, Clane, Co Kildare, has pleaded not guilty to the murder of his 20-month-old son, Nathan Baraka Andrew Ali on April 17th, 2001, at College Road, Clane.
Mr Abdi entered the State in June 1997 and had applied for refugee status but was refused.
Opening the case for the prosecution yesterday, Mr Michael Durack SC said the State Pathologist, Dr John Harbison, would tell the court that the child died from a fractured skull and brain damage. This was caused by multiple severe blows to the head.
In evidence, the child's mother, Ms Amanda Bailey (29), said she and the baby were asleep in a bedroom in the first-floor apartment at College Road when the attack happened in the early hours.
She had lived there with Mr Abdi, whom she had married in May 1999, but had returned to live with her parents because of his increasingly "paranoid" behaviour and his refusal to seek medical attention.
She told the court that when he arrived in Ireland, he was suffering from post-traumatic stress, but it was not something they spoke about much.
The month after Nathan's birth in August 1999, Mr Abdi was granted a "green card" and subsequently granted refugee status.
Ms Bailey told the court it became "a constant battle" to get him to seek help for his mental health. She had left him on a number of occasions but subsequently returned.
On April 16th, 2001, she took the child to see his father at College Road, intending to return to her parents' house in Dublin that evening. However, she agreed to stay overnight.
He went out to get money and when he returned he appeared agitated. He told her some children had shouted a racial slur at him.
Ms Bailey told the jury she and Nathan went to bed in the spare bedroom, but she woke up at about 4.20 a.m. In the living-room she saw the baby lying on the couch.
She lifted him and noticed the back of his head was "soft". The baby was taken to Naas General Hospital and pronounced dead. Mr Abdi was arrested at the hospital.
The trial continues today.