Teesside dad who murdered his three-month-old is jailed

Bradley Thomas, 23, will serve a minimum of 14 years after he became frustrated at little Emmerson Oak who refused to settle after a night feed.

Teesside Crown Court heard how he continued to deny inflicting fatal injuries on his young son, and delayed calling the emergency services for 30 minutes after, sending a distressing video to his partner.

Emma Dowling, prosecuting, said the jury found Thomas had ‘forcefully and vigorously shaken’ his young son in the early hours of the morning.

She said: “The jury saw video footage of Emmerson physically suffering for a short period of time before he must have lost consciousness.”

The court heard how Thomas failed to get immediate help for his son despite him being clearly in distress and waited for 30 minutes to call 999.

During his trial, jurors heard how death was inevitable due to the ‘catastrophic’ injuries suffered by his son.

The court heard Emmerson’s mother, who spoke in support of Thomas during the trial, had declined to make a victim statement following his conviction for murder.

Nicholas Lumley KC, mitigating, said Thomas had been described as a “loving father” and “nobody can believe he did what the jury found him to have done”.

Mr Justice Sheldon KC told Thomas that he would be sentenced to a mandatory life sentence following his conviction for his son’s murder.

He said: “You shook your three-month-old baby son with such violence and force that he was caused severe and irreversible brain injuries.

“Emmerson died three days later as a result of those injuries.”

Thomas was told he must serve at least 14-years in prison before he can be considered for parole.

“It must not be forgotten that you committed denied Emmerson a life,” he added.

“He had his whole life ahead of him, and that life was cut short by his murder.

“By your own actions, you have lost a much-loved son and the tragedy of this loss will undoubtedly have a lasting impact on you, just as it will have that impact on the rest of Emmerson’s family.”

During the trial, jurors heard how Thomas told police and medics that Emmerson had fallen off his knee when he nodded off on the sofa.

However, the medical experts dismissed his version of events after identifying multiple bleeds on the brain consistent with ‘vigorous shaking’.

The judge added: “You lost your temper. For a minute or so you shook Emmerson with so much force he was caused fatal injuries.

“You regretted what you had done immediately afterwards. You hoped Emmerson would recover but tragically that did not happen.”