Father guilty of killing baby son

Tuffs said baby Byron had suffocated while he was asleep

A teenage father who became irritable if he was interrupted playing computer games has been convicted of killing one of his four-month-old twin sons.

A jury at Norwich Crown Court found James Tuffs, now 21, of Onehouse, Suffolk, guilty of the manslaughter of his son Byron.

The infant had suffered a fractured skull and two fractured ribs.

Tuffs, who was cleared of cruelty to his other son Tyrese, had said Byron had suffocated while he was sleeping.

'Extensive injuries'

Prosecuting, Oliver Sells QC said doctors had declared Byron dead after he was found "grey and floppy" at their then family home in Stowmarket.

Checks showed the extent of his injuries and his twin had suffered a fractured skull, multiple rib fractures, a fractured arm and fractures to both legs, said Mr Sells.

"These very extensive and serious injuries were caused by this defendant," said Mr Sells.

Tuffs and the boys lived downstairs while his girlfriend Zoe O'Leary, now 18, cared for their daughter Aaliyah, now two, upstairs.

Stopped breathing

Mr Sells told jurors Mr Tuffs would rather play computer games than do anything else and became irritable if he was interrupted.

On 5 January last year Tyrese had stopped breathing. Tuffs said he had given the baby mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and the boy was checked at a nearby GP's surgery and found to be well.

Less than three weeks later, Byron had been declared dead after being found in a similar condition.

Tuffs is due to be sentenced in September.

After the hearing, Suffolk County Council's director for children and young people, Rosalind Turner, said lessons had been learned from the tragedy.

Lessons learned

In a statement she said council's family support team had worked with the family and there had been no reason to suggest the twins were at "significant risk".

"However, we have learned lessons from this tragedy and have responded quickly and positively to put improvements in place," she said.

These include closer working between the county council and the NHS and as part of that the Area Child Protection Committee will be developed into a Safeguarding Children Board, which will have a wide responsibility for ensuring the safety and well-being of children, she said.

Ipswich Hospital's director of nursing, Gwen Collins, said a specialist senior nurse to lead on safeguarding children was being appointed and detailed action plan was being put into place.