A MURDER charge against a man accused of killing his ex-fiancee’s baby seven years ago has been reduced to manslaughter following a court ruling.
Philip Doyle (34), Tinakilly, Aughrim, Co Wicklow, has pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to murdering Ross Murphy (then 3½ months) at Creagh Demesne, Gorey, Co Wexford on April 5th, 2005.
Senior counsel Tom O’Connell, prosecuting, yesterday told the jury the charge was now one of manslaughter, not murder, due to a ruling.
Mr Doyle had been minding the baby at the home he shared with the child’s mother, Leona Murphy, while she went out to get a DVD on April 3rd, 2005.
The baby had returned from Wexford General Hospital earlier that day after being admitted on March 31st, 2005, after he was found “lifeless” and getting sick on the bed, the court heard.
He was kept in for observation and released on the morning of April 3rd, but was returned to the hospital that evening.
He was rushed to Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital Crumlin in the early hours of the next morning, but died the next day, on April 5th.
The prosecution alleges that bruising over the child’s body was caused by Mr Doyle, but the defence denies this.
In his closing speech, Mr O’Connell told the jury the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the accused had caused Ross Murphy’s death.
He told the jury Mr Doyle was a calculated liar, and said the account of the fall he gave was “untrue”. He said Mr Doyle lied to medical staff and gardaí.
Senior counsel Giollaiosa Ó Lideadha, defending, said a number of convictions over shaken baby syndrome had been quashed in the UK. He said individuals had been wrongly convicted.
Mr Ó Lideadha said neuropathologist Dr Michael Farrell had told the court the brain injuries could have been caused by a fall described by the accused. He said the evidence proved beyond reasonable doubt bruises on the boy were not caused by Mr Doyle.
The jury will resume hearing the defence’s closing speech today.