A brief inquest took place yesterday into the death of sixmonth-old Vanessa Kelly. Her father, Fergus Whitty, was convicted by a jury of her murder in Cork last month at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin and was sentenced to life imprisonment. There were no relatives at the hearing, which lasted 10 minutes, before the coroner, Mr Cornelius Riordan. Mr Riordan had a 12-page report on the post-mortem examination carried out by the State Pathologist, Prof John Har bison, in which the injuries suffered by the baby, who lived with her parents at Mount Vernon Crescent, South Douglas Road, Cork, were outlined.
Apart from the injuries, she was described as a "normal, well cared-for baby". The cause of death was due to shock and haemorrhage as a result of laceration of the liver and left kidney from a blow to the stomach, two fractures of the skull, three lower jaw fractures and a broken arm.
Insp John O'Brien said Vanessa was taken to the South Infirmary Hospital on September 14th and transferred to Cork University Hospital where she died in the early hours of September 15th, 1996.
Mr Riordan said that despite strenuous efforts made to save Vanessa's life, she died. He extended his sympathy to the child's family. He recorded a verdict of death in accordance with the medical evidence that Vanessa died from shock and haemorrhage following a blow to the stomach.