Dad murdered son, 2, after winning sole custody

Damion Russell had an adult bite mark to his upper right thigh and fractured ribs

A dad murdered his two-year-old son within months of being granted sole custody of him.

Daniel Hardcastle, 31, from Blackpool, subjected toddler Damion Russell to a "horrifically violent" attack.

The toddler was found unresponsive at Central Drive, Blackpool, on 19 August last year and died in hospital.

Hardcastle was convicted by a jury at Preston Crown Court and must serve at least 22 years in prison.

Daniel Hardcastle murdered his son Damion just three months after being granted sole custody of him

Sentencing Hardcastle to life imprisonment, judge Mrs Justice Hill said Damion was "covered in injuries top to toe and front to back.”

“The pathologist identified some 80 separate injuries at post mortem,” she said.

During his trial Hardcastle said the toddler had fallen and banged his head on a coffee table.

But doctors found extensive injuries on Damion, including an adult bite mark, fractured ribs, bruising across his body, and a tear inside his lip as if a drinking bottle had been forced into his mouth.

The court heard Hardcastle either forcefully shook Damion and banged his head, or caused Damion’s head to come into contact with a solid object.

Hardcastle, who was granted sole custody of Damion three months before his death, denied the charges, stating his son had injured himself when he ran into the coffee table and had a fit.

Blackpool Council said it will complete a local child safeguarding practice review.

A previous charge of child cruelty was not proceeded with, prosecutors said.

As part of the investigation, data analysis from Hardcastle’s mobile phone revealed he had made a number of searches in relation to the ageing process of bruises, with one search just four minutes before his call to the emergency services.

The jury were told Hardcastle had started drinking more in the days and weeks before the assault and, on the two nights before his son's death, spent all night chatting online to a woman.

'No childhood accident'

Damion's grandmother said he made her "happy and proud" and he had an "amazing laugh".

"Damion made me so happy. Now I just feel sad, heartbroken," Linda Hardcastle added.

Det Supt Al Davies said: "Like any young child Damion had the right to be loved and cherished by the man who should have done everything he could to protect him.

"Instead, he found himself subjected to a horrifically violent and sustained assault."

“Only Daniel Hardcastle can say exactly what happened on that fateful day or why he did what he did, but this was no childhood accident that ended in tragedy."