A 30-year-old Saudi Arabian dental technician who assaulted his baby son by shaking him has asked a court to allow him leave Ireland and return home.

His lawyers say he has learned his lesson, co-operated fully with social services and reports show he is at low-risk of reoffending.

The court heard the man showed up with his baby son at Temple Street Hospital in Dublin on August 4th last year.

He told doctors that the child had been very irritable and then had become pale and lethargic in his arms and that he had shaken him to try and revive him.

Bleeding on the brain

Scans showed acute bleeding on the brain and suggested a non-accidental shaking injury.

Doctors were not convinced when the father blamed climate change, plane trips or an incident back in Saudi Arabia for the symptoms of the boy.

He subsequently pleaded guilty to assault causing harm to the child who is well again and back in Saudi with his mother.

Judge Martin Nolan will decide tomorrow whether to forfeit a custodial sentence and grant a request to exclude the 30-year-old from Ireland and let him return to his family immediately.