London father Pedro Rubim jailed for shaking baby son to death

A Blackfriars Crown Court jury convicted Pedro Rubim of manslaughter on Wednesday

A man who shook his six-week-old son to death has been jailed for eight-and-a-half years.

Pedro Rubim, 43, told police and his partner that Alejandro Rubim fell on a wooden floor at their home in Camden, north-west London, on 20 February 2016.

Alejandro died of severe brain, head and eye injuries four days later.

Rubim was convicted of manslaughter at Blackfriars Crown Court on Wednesday after a jury heard the injuries were "most likely caused by being shaken".

Rubim, from Enfield, north London, had claimed he had shaken the baby to try to revive him after he slipped out of his bouncer and fell on the floor.

'Shaken or thrown'

He said it happened when he left the baby alone to fetch some milk.

The baby's mother and Mr Rubin's partner of five years, Maribel Rodriguez, 40, was at the dentist at the time.

She had left Rubim sitting on the settee at their flat in Finchley Road with their son and a bottle of milk, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

Alejandro died of his injuries at Great Ormond Street Hospital on 24 February.

Olcay Sapanoglu, from CPS London's homicide unit, said: "Although Rubim called 999 himself, the prosecution was able to present a number of medical professionals as witnesses who were clear that Alejandro's fatal injuries were far from consistent with a fall from a low-level height.

"Many of them pointed to medical evidence that showed Alejandro's injuries were most likely caused by being shaken and or thrown."