A north Antrim couple have been convicted of an assault which left a little boy blind, brain damaged and fighting for life.
Standing in the dock of Newry Crown Court with his arms folded, 35-year-old Chris Fulton shook his head as the jury foreman read their unanimous verdicts, leaning across a prison officer to whisper something inaudible to his wife Amanda Fulton.
After seven hours and 45 minutes of deliberations over two days, the jury found Fulton unanimously guilty of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent and two charges of child cruelty by wilfully neglecting the young victim.
While his wife was acquitted of grievous bodily harm with intent and one charge of child cruelty, the 35-year-old was however unanimously convicted of causing or allowing the child to suffer significant physical harm and a further charge of child cruelty.
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The estranged couple showed very little emotion as the foreman announced the jury’s verdicts but many of the jurors were clearly distressed.
Thanking the jury for the diligence and service, Judge Peter Irvine KC told them the trial “has been very harrowing, I have no doubt, for everyone concerned having to hear the evidence in this case.”
“The way in which you have dealt with all of those issues is exemplary, I have to say,” the judge commended the jury.
“I can see already that a number of you are very, very emotionally upset and I would urge upon you that if you do require counselling, please contact the number which will be given to you,” Judge Irvine told them.
Since the trial began five weeks ago, the eight men and four women on the jury heard how the very young child was unresponsive on the morning of November 7th, 2019 but despite their concerns, neither of them called a doctor for three hours.
When the boy was eventually seen by the GP at 4pm that day, it was plainly obvious to him that “he was a very sick child.”
Initially he was rushed to the Causeway Hospital where a scan uncovered a significant head injury and he was then taken to the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children.
It was there, the jury heard, that doctors discovered the true extent of his life threatening injuries including a fractured skull with associated bleeding to the brain and retinal bleeding; 27 rib fractures; fractures to both thigh bones; fractures to both shin bones; fractured wrist; a lacerated liver.
It had always been the Crown case that with no credible, innocent explanation for the injuries, which experts compared to those a child might sustain in a high speed car crash, one or other of the defendants was responsible for causing the injuries.
The jury have heard evidence from numerous medical expert witnesses describe the injuries suffered by the very young boy as “severe and significant” and were so serious that he would have died without medical intervention.
The range of consultant paediatric doctors who testified all agreed that an incident involving blunt force trauma such as a punch or being struck against a hard surface like a wall or floor.
The separated couple each blamed the other for the injuries caused to the child.
Adjourning the case to allow time for various reports to be compiled, the judge said he would pass sentence on December 13th.
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