By Ashley Young-
A man who claims to have regularly heard voices has been jailed for trying to kill his child
The 25-year-old man, who regularly took cannabis, crack cocaine and Spice, was hearing voices when he repeatedly attempted to smother the infant, Bradford Crown Court heard today.
Judges ordered that the man could not be named to protect the identity of the child.
The unnamed man tried to suffocate the sleeping baby with a duvet cover, his hand and a pillow, clawing at his partner and digging his nails into her to grab the child as she tried to protect him.The Bradford man pleaded guilty to attempting to murder his son and assaulting his partner and a little girl in the early hours of March 14.
The defendant cannot be named to protect the identity of both of the children.Prosecutor David McGonigal told the court that the baby was just a few weeks old when the man tried to kill him.
The defendant had been smoking cannabis on a daily basis , and had been to his doctor to seek help with paranoia. He took the sleeping baby out of his cot in the middle of the night and laid him on his chest in the bed he shared with his partner. The mother of the baby saw him pull the duvet over the baby , hampering the bay in the process . When she told the man to put him back in his cot, he placed his hand over the child’s face and then tried to smother him with a pillow.
The court heard that the baby’s mother hit him on the head with her phone and bit his arm in a desperate bid to protect her child. The nutcase case man weakened his baby’s resistance as she tried to fight back and push him away. This was a father without a conscience who blames voices for his crazy act. Bradford Court heard he threw the sleeping baby on the bed and then held her head and upper body over the bannister. The man’s madness didn’t stop there.
He pursued his partner down the street as she tried to carry the baby to safety. When he finally caught up with her, he squeezed her throat and put her in a headlock.He was dragged away by four police officers dragged him away, he shouted: “I’ve killed him. I’m sorry.”
He lashed out at the officers and had to be restrained on the ground.The man then said: “I’ve given him the full bottle of Calpol mixed with his milk. I’m sorry. I wanted to kill him.” The court heard that this had not in fact happened. The man told a nurse at the police station that he heard voices telling him to kill. He regularly used cannabis, crack cocaine and Spice and had no recollection of the events of that night.
His barrister, Tahir Khan QC, said the man was on medication for depression and psychosis. He either wasn’t taking it, or it wasn’t working. He had been open and honest about what had happened and it was wholly out of character.
“He is a young man who can rebuild his life,” Mr Khan said.
Judge David Hatton QC said they were “distressing and tragic” events. He sentenced the man as a dangerous offender to an extended five year period on prison licence.He had made a “sustained and repeated” attempt to murder the baby, despite the intervention of his partner and the young girl.