Baby 'thrown violently by father'

A Devon father killed his eight-week-old son by shaking or throwing him violently against a piece of furniture, a court heard.

Michael Burridge was looking after his son Rees when his wife Donna went out shopping on 30 September 2006.

He took Rees to hospital where medics said the baby was "blue and lifeless". Doctors restarted his heart but he died two days later.

Mr Burridge, 28, of Tavistock, denies murdering his son.

'Violently shaken'

Plymouth Crown Court heard medical experts found both new and old rib fractures but doctors believed the fatal injuries were inflicted shortly before Rees was admitted to hospital.

Prosecutor Neil Ford QC said: "The injuries are consistent with being gripped very tightly around the chest before being violently shaken or thrown against a bed or piece of furniture.

"The prosecution suggest that given their severity they must have been deliberately inflicted.

"The defendant was the only person who could have inflicted them."

The case continues.