Jury considers verdicts in Workington baby death trial

Reece Martin Kelly, 31, denies the murder allegation but he has pleaded guilty to manslaughter, accepting he “gently” shook his four-month-old son Dallas, causing him the traumatic head injury that led to his death.

He did not intend to harm his son, he told the court.

The child’s mother Georgia Wright, 23, denies “causing or allowing” Dallas’s death while both defendants deny child cruelty by failing to take their son to medical appointments and by exposing him to illegal drugs in the home.

Prosecutors say Dallas was fatally injured after Wright went to work on October 15, 2021, leaving their son in Kelly’s care.

Kelly later called for an ambulance, reporting that his son had stopped breathing. Dallas died in a Newcastle hospital four days later after doctors turned off his life support machine. The baby had suffered multiple bleeds in his brain, eyes, and spine.

He had also suffered six rib fractures, including one which a medical expert concluded happened weeks before his death. The child also suffered a brain bleed sustained one and three weeks before his death, according to an expert.

As he summed up the case, Mr Justice Dove provided a detailed outline of the medical evidence.

This included evidence from Home Office pathologist Dr Alison Armour, who concluded that the “fingertip” bruising found on Dallas’s torso would have been the result of him being gripped with “considerable force.”

Considerable force would also have been necessary to cause the rib fractures Dallas sustained, according to the expert. Commenting on Kelly’s account that he shook Dallas “gently” to rouse him on October 15, another expert had said it was “inconceivable” such actions lead to the injuries found on Dallas. 

The jury were also reminded of the evidence of a consultant ophthalmologist who examined the multiple eye injuries sustained by Dallas.

Dr Jo McPartland told the trial that the baby suffered multiple bleeds in the eye which were “too numerous to count” as well as retinal detachments. “The cause of death was a traumatic head injury consistent with shaking,” said Mr Justice Dove.

One of the experts said Dallas's injuries were of a sort usually seen after “multi-storey falls, road traffic accidents, or head crushing" incidents, the jury heard.

The head injuries found were consistent with “forceful shaking,” the jury heard.

Consultant neuropathologist Dr Daniel Du Plessis concluded that Dallas’s injuries went beyond those which could have been caused by “rough handling.” The expert said the injuries were consistent with “forceful, repetitive shaking”.

The jury were reminded also of Georgia Wright’s efforts to get treatment for her son’s extreme reflux – how in August she had taken Dallas to the A&E Department of West Cumberland Hospital.

That visit resulted in the baby having a cardiogram, confirming that Dallas had a hole in his heart. It was after this his parents installed a camera in his bedroom so they could monitor him via a phone.

The jury heard also about evidence linked to the defendants’ drug use, with Wright apologising to Kelly at one point for “taking so many pills.” Both defendants said they used street bought pills to control their pain.

Jurors were reminded of how the defendants reacted when they were arrested after Dallas’s death. When cautioned, Kelly, looking shocked, was heard to say: “What? On, please… Jesus Christ. No. Don’t do this.

“I swear down on my mam’s life. No. God.”

Wright’s response to being arrested was to say: “We don’t know how it’s…” Looking shocked, she placed her hand on her chest.”

When Kelly entered his plea to manslaughter at the beginning of the trial, accepting he had caused their son’s death, she said he felt he was a “monster”.

She told the jury: “I could not believe that he had spent all that time holding me, promising me that he would never hurt our baby… saying that they’d find out what really happened.”

The jury will continue with their deliberations today.