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Court hears baby could not have compressed tissue into 'wad' before choking

A paediatrician has told the trial of a man accused of murdering his six-month-old baby son that ...
Newstalk
Newstalk

21.20 13 Mar 2018


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Court hears baby could not hav...

Court hears baby could not have compressed tissue into 'wad' before choking

Newstalk
Newstalk

21.20 13 Mar 2018


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A paediatrician has told the trial of a man accused of murdering his six-month-old baby son that a child of that age can’t form a “wad” of tissue with his hands.

40-year-old John Tighe of Lavallyroe in Ballyhaunis in Mayo denies murdering his baby son Joshua in June 2013 by placing tissue in his mouth.

The court heard that during a post-mortem of the six-and-a-half month old baby carried out in June 2013, an object comprising of two pieces of tissue was taken from his mouth.

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It measured 5.5 cm in length and 3.5cm in height.

Paediatrician Hilary Stokes told the jury that a baby of that age is not able to compress open tissues and fashion it into a “wad” as their limited by their hand skills.

She also said it is not possible for a six-month-old to chew the tissue into such a shape.

And she also said a baby of that age wouldn’t attempt to swallow an object like this as it would not get back that far.

The Paediatrician added nobody would try and swallow something big in one go and a six-month-old is no different.

It is the Prosecution’s case that John Tighe murdered his baby son Joshua by placing a wad of tissue in his mouth.

The 40-year-has pleaded not guilty and told gardaí his baby may have swallowed a wipe while he went to the toilet for no more than three or four minutes.


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