Overview
- Prosecutors told the Central Criminal Court the woman had assaulted the child on earlier occasions and that her conduct intensified in the weeks before his death.
- Post-mortem evidence cited a traumatic head injury with blunt abdominal trauma, including a lacerated liver, consistent with shaking with impact rather than a fall from a bunk bed.
- Paramedics and hospital staff reported multiple bruises of different ages and a black eye, and an intensive care consultant suspected the injuries were non-accidental.
- Garda evidence includes 11 texts and 10 calls with the boy’s father that morning, neighbor CCTV indicating repeated trips upstairs, and internet searches about head injuries and concussion.
- In interviews, the woman said she ‘snapped,’ recalled shaking the child and trying to rouse him, insisted she did not intend to kill, and the trial is expected to last up to five weeks under anonymity rules.