Father on trial accused of murdering young son

Craig Rowland is charged with the murder of Lewis Rowland

A man has gone on trial accused of murdering his three-year-old son.

Craig Rowland from Millington Park in Portadown, County Armagh, is charged with the murder of Lewis Oliver Rowland, who died on 20 October 2018.

The 29-year-old accused is further charged with the manslaughter of the infant on the same date.

A jury at Belfast Crown Court heard Mr Rowland previously pleaded guilty to a charge of wilfully neglecting the child.

The court was told Lewis's mother Laura Graham also pleaded guilty to the same charge.

Delivering his opening statement, a prosecution lawyer said Lewis was 13 weeks old when he was admitted to Craigavon area hospital with "serious head injuries" in November 2015.

The barrister told the jury the prosecution was satisfied the child's injuries were "non-accidental".

The court heard that the three-year-old died three years later, in October 2018, after complications arising from surgery.

The lawyer said the serious injuries suffered by the child in 2015 were a "significant cause of his death".

He told the jury a pathologist would give evidence that the infant's head injury played a significant role in the pneumonia he contracted which resulted in his death.

Facial bruising

The court heard Lewis was first brought to Craigavon Area Hospital on 20 November 2015 by both his parents.

Mr Rowland told a nurse the baby had "taken a seizure" the previous month and that the child's GP was not concerned.

The nurse noted bruising on the child's face and asked whether Lewis had been "dropped or banged".

Mr Rowland told the nurse that he had held his son upside down after he had taken another seizure.

The jury was later told that the accused denied ever doing so.

The court heard the baby was taken into a resuscitation room after a nurse noted he was "not alert" and in a condition she had never seen before.

The barrister said another nurse described the three-year-old as "unresponsive" and "blue and lifeless, like a floppy doll".

The jury was told that Lewis's parents told a consultant paediatrician their child had been unwell the night before he was brought to hospital.

The barrister said they described how their son's limbs were shaking and stiffening during an episode that lasted 30 minutes.

'Significant and catastrophic brain injury'

The court later heard how a CT scan, requested by a doctor who had taken over the child's treatment, displayed a "marked abnormality" to his brain.

The prosecution barrister said multiple examinations revealed not just bruising but a "significant and catastrophic brain injury" which showed "irreversible brain damage".

He added that an MRI scan showed areas of extensive brain damage as well as a spinal injury.

The lawyer added that the three month old had also sustained a rib fracture as well as a "bilateral retinal haemorrhage".

He said the child's doctor said the "cluster of injuries" could not be explained by normal handling.

The court later heard about the period before the child's death in October 2018.

The prosecution lawyer said when hospital staff became aware on the morning of the 20 October that Lewis was going to die they made steps to alert his parents through the police.

The court was told that when officers arrived at his parents' home, Mr Rowland refused to travel to the hospital with police and cursed at them.

The barrister told the jury Mr Rowland had given different accounts in police interviews about the day before his son was first to brought to hospital and whether he had spent any periods alone looking after him.

The jury was also told of the observations made by a consultant radiologist, following a MRI scan, taken three days after the child was admitted to hospital.

The court heard he found images consistent with trauma with no accidental explanation, which were likely caused by shaking.

"Ultimately when you stand back and view the evidence in it's entirety, we say that you will be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Craig Rowland is responsible for the injuries sustained by Lewis," the lawyer told the jury.

The trial continues.