Father accused of killing his five-week-old son by snapping his neck told police he woke to find the baby still and cold in the crib, court hears

A father accused of snapping his infant son’s neck told police he woke up to find the baby still and cold in the crib.

Prosecutors allege Ollie was injured while in the care of his mother Kayleigh Driver, 31, and father Michael Davis, 29, who both deny murder and causing or allowing death.

Their son was pronounced dead at 7.30am on October 21, 2017, after being discovered in a bedroom he shared with his parents in Upper Temple Walk, Leicester.

The jury at Leicester Crown Court has heard from prosecutor Jonas Hankin KC that Ollie suffered a ‘catalogue of physical injuries’ including a snapped neck, a broken skull, broken arms and fractures to the sockets of his arms and legs. 

The neck injury, sustained about four days before his death, was ruled to be the fatal injury by pathologists. 

In his police interviews, Davis denied having ever harmed Ollie. He told officers about discovering his son’s still body at the home in Upper Temple Walk, Beaumont Leys, Leicester, on the morning of Saturday, October 21, 2017.

Davis told Leicestershire Police detectives he had got up to feed Ollie at 3am after being woken by his crying. Afterwards he went back to bed and woke up with Ollie in the crib beside his bed and Driver downstairs with her mother.

Mr Hankin told the jury: ‘Michael Davis said he checked the baby. He said, ‘I thought he was a bit quiet – normally he would be moaning and whinging.’

‘He said Ollie was lying on his back and his head wasn’t straight. He said Ollie’s eyes were closed and when he touched Ollie’s forehead it was ‘really cold’. He said there was no breathing whatsoever and Ollie was floppy.

‘He said he then commenced CPR without calling for help and despite having had no first aid training.’ Davis told the police that after trying chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation he carried the lifeless child downstairs.

Mr Hankin said: ‘Kayleigh Driver said that during that time she had heard nothing – no panicking, no shouting from Michael.’

The jury also heard that the couple had not been together when Driver discovered she was pregnant. She had gone back to living with an ex-boyfriend and Davis was living with one of his friends.

Mr Hankin said Davis had asked Driver: ‘Do you even know it’s mine?’ Mr Hankin added: ‘However, he did subsequently satisfy himself the child was his so they resumed their relationship.’

Mr Hankin said that the jury would hear from witnesses about Davis’s attitude to being a father, including incidents in which he was criticised for how he cared for Ollie. 

Mr Hankin had previously told the jury it would be a matter for them whether both Davis and Driver, who now live in Carlisle Street, West End, Leicester, were responsible for murdering Ollie, or whether one of them committed the murder.

He also told the jury, during the hearing on Monday, that Ollie had no bone defects that contributed to his injuries and they were not caused during childbirth. 

He added that the pattern of injuries was ‘recognised to occur in cases of physical abuse’ and that the jury ‘can be absolutely sure Ollie was being physically abused’.

The trial began last week, with the prosecution saying neither Driver nor Davis had put forward an account of an accident or accidents to explain the injuries to their son.

Davis, 29, denies two counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, causing or allowing a child to suffer serious physical harm, causing or allowing the death of a child and murder.

Driver, 31, denies causing grievous bodily harm with intent, causing or allowing a child to suffer serious physical harm, causing or allowing the death of a child and murder.

The trial, which is expected to last up to eight weeks, continues.