Man jailed for murdering his baby son

Wednesday, 20 September 2017 16:00

A Rochdale father who beat his baby son to death in their own home has been jailed.　

Craig Dawick, 26, was sentenced yesterday, 19 September, to life imprisonment with a minimum of 21 years at Manchester Crown Court after being found guilty of murdering eight-month old Leyton Dawick.　

Leyton’s mother, Chantelle Flynn, 25, was found guilty of causing or allowing his death and attempting to pervert the course of justice. She will be sentenced at a later date

The court heard how Flynn returned home at 8.33am on 6 September last year after leaving the baby in hands of his father. She soon made a 999-call reporting that her baby had stopped breathing.　

As the ambulance arrived Dawick fled the address and paramedics discovered the boy was struggling to breathe.　

Flynn told paramedics they had been cuddling on the sofa when Leyton started sweating and ‘going red’, before his colour changed and he turned pale.　

But Dawick had in fact punched, stamped on and shook Leyton resulting in catastrophic injuries including a bleed on the brain, haemorrhages to his eyes, fractured ribs and extensive bruising across his body.　

Despite the best efforts of hospital staff Leyton tragically died as a result of his injuries.　

When questioned by police Dawick denied the offences and claimed the child fell off the sofa, while Flynn tried to give false accounts to officers to help cover up Dawick’s crimes and claimed Leyton had previously banged his head on the floor.

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