David Hollick was found guilty of killing his young son Kairo (Picture: PA)
A dad has been jailed for 15 years after he was found guilty of killing his son by shaking him and hitting him in the head.
David Hollick was found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter over the death of his six-month-old son Kairo on February 12, 2020.
Hollick, 29, claimed he had tripped and fallen over while carrying Kairo – but medical experts said his injuries were ‘consistent with an assault’.
Prosecutor David Mason KC said the baby ‘had not only been shaken violently, but his head had been bashed at least twice’ with a hard object, and had been subjected to at least one ‘severe’ impact.
Kairo suffered at least two skull fractures and a fracture to his right arm while he was in the care of his father three days before he died.
Hollick cried in the dock as he was sentenced at Birmingham crown court by Mr Justice Dove, who told him: ‘The evidence of the medical experts was that these injuries were not the result of rough handling or an accident, but the consequence of severe blunt force impact.
Kairo was described by his mum as ‘a dream baby’ (Picture: PA)
David Hollick denied killing his son but was found guilty of manslaughter (Picture: PA)
‘He was extremely vulnerable and what you did to him was a complete betrayal of your duty as a parent.
‘It is perfectly clear, for example from the videos which we saw of Kairo taken shortly before his death, what a delightful baby he obviously was.’
The judge said he was sure that a single impact or multiple impacts had been inflicted on Kairo, as well as being shaken.
He also told Hollick, of Primley Avenue in Walsall: ‘Kairo’s family will never know what caused you to inflict these serious injuries and kill their son and grandson.
‘It is hard to think of a more grotesque breach of trust between a parent and their child… that a parent could assault and kill their own child.’
The trial heard Hollick’s ex-partner, Adina Johnson, dropped their son off at his home as usual on February 7 for the weekend, and while Kairo had a cold at the time, she had no other concerns about his health.
More Trending
In a victim impact statement, Ms Johnson said: ‘It’s been four years since when this nightmare began. I still can’t comprehend the reality that Kairo has died.’
Describing Kairo as a ‘dream baby that seemed too good to be true’, Ms Johnson said: ‘He learned things so fast.’
Accusing Hollick of attempting to manipulate the jury with his ‘false narrative of an accident’ to hide his ‘inhumane’ actions, Ms Johnson added: ‘Our suffering has been prolonged for years by David Hollick, who continued to deny involvement.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.