A WICKLOW man who was found guilty in May of killing his ex-fiancee’s baby aged 3½ months is to be sentenced on Tuesday.
Philip Doyle (34), Tinakilly, Aughrim, had pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to murdering Ross Murphy at Creagh Demesne, Gorey, Co Wexford on April 5th, 2005.
Following a court ruling during the four-week trial, Mr Justice Patrick McCarthy directed the jury to acquit him of murder and to consider a verdict of manslaughter. This was due to his ruling that the prosecution had not made a case that the jury could find without reasonable doubt that Doyle had in fact committed murder, as they could not prove how the injuries to the baby were caused.
The jury of six men and five women had returned a unanimous verdict of guilty of manslaughter after just over three hours of deliberation following the trial.
Mr Justice McCarthy adjourned sentencing as he said this was “an exceptional case” and he wanted to consider the evidence and the victim impact statement carefully.
The sister of Leona Murphy, the baby’s mother, read out a victim impact statement on behalf of Leona, who was in tears throughout the hearing, saying the death of baby Ross was “the worst nightmare”.
Adele Murphy said: “We have been grieving Ross’s death for the past seven years and our hearts ache for him. We never got the chance to see who he would look like, hear his first words, see his first steps. Leona has lost a lifetime of firsts.
“Ross should be making his Communion now and we have few memories, which are overshadowed by what Ross went through. There is only one person to blame. Nothing nor no one will ever replace our little angel Ross.”
She said every year, for Ross’s birthday, Leona places a photograph of him beside a cake.
The family, she added, had “lost trust in mankind. Leona put her trust in someone she thought would play a part in their lives and we all ask what we could have done to prevent this.
“The pain and heartache will never go away and our lives will never be the same.”
A letter of apology to Ross’s family which was read out by Giollaiosa Ó Lideadha, SC, defending, on behalf of Doyle, who held his face in his hands in the dock, said: “I want to say how very sorry I am for not telling the truth. I loved Leona and wanted to spend my life with her. I’ve ruined my reputation and I wish I had done things differently. I can’t turn the clock back and I will have to live with the death of Ross for the rest of my life. Nothing I can do or say will change that.”
State Pathologist Prof Marie Cassidy had given evidence during the trial that the baby died from brain trauma from which he would not have recovered.
She said such trauma would not be expected to occur in a not yet mobile child without some explanation. There was deep bruising consistent with the trunk being firmly gripped and haemorrhages inside the eyes “highly suggested a shaking incident”.
The injury to the forehead had a patterned or textured appearance and the child’s head could have been struck against a similarly patterned surface such as a carpet or sofa, Prof Cassidy told the court.