Frustrated dad violently shook baby son, jury told

A "frustrated and irritated" father murdered his baby son by shaking him violently, a jury has been told.

Peter Sayle, 31, is alleged to have deliberately inflicted serious injuries on six-week-old Huxley Sayle, who was left "immediately unresponsive".

Jurors at Preston Crown Court heard Huxley was rushed to hospital in the early hours of 14 June 2022 after his mother, Livinia Sharples, dialled 999 and told the operator that her son was not breathing at the couple's home in Preston, Lancashire.

Sayle denies murder and the trial continues.

The court heard that a CT scan at Royal Preston Hospital had revealed unexplained bleeding in different parts of Huxley's brain.

This raised suspicions of a shaking-type injury and the baby was transferred to the intensive care unit at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital.

Huxley never regained consciousness and treatment was withdrawn on 14 July 2022.

A post-mortem examination ruled the cause of death was a "traumatic head injury".

Members of the jury were also told that a pathologist had concluded Huxley was forcefully gripped or squeezed around the chest and suffered "an episode or episodes of vigorous shaking, causing his head to oscillate backwards and forwards".

The trial also heard that police seized digital devices from the family address in Squires Wood, Fulwood.

Detectives discovered internet searches - conducted shortly after the infant's birth - including "baby crying makes me angry dad" and "I'm getting so angry when baby won't sleep".

Opening the prosecution's case, Anne Whyte KC said: "We do not say that Peter Sayle intended to kill his son, rather he deliberately and knowingly used force intending to hurt Huxley seriously and to silence him.

"We say regrettably that Peter Sayle was, at times, simply not coping well with parenting a very young baby."

Whyte said Huxley had been "very unsettled at times" and "would have been waking up and feeding frequently, including during the night".

Citing accounts given to healthcare professionals about Huxley's presentation and the searches conducted by Sayle, the prosecutor said Huxley was proving, at times, to be "an irritating presence to his father".

"Any infant of Huxley's age would naturally require the most patient care and handling. Instead, Peter Sayle was plainly frustrated by the disruption," said Whyte.

"On 14 June 2022 Peter Sayle's undoubted frustration spilt over when he was tending to Huxley alone in the early hours, no doubt wishing Huxley would just to go to sleep.

"Then he quickly started lying about what had happened because he knew precisely what he had done."

Whyte said Sayle "had no honest explanation... and simply lacked the courage to tell his partner - now wife - or the medical staff or the police what really happened."

The court heard Sayle had told detectives there had been no head trauma inflicted, and denied ever forcefully shaking Huxley.

He also denied being angry at his son and said the internet search terms expressed "just over-stimulation like when someone slurps a drink next to you or the dog chews in your ear".

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