Dad who killed six-month-old son in attack that caused skull fractures is jailed for 15 years

A father who killed his six-month-old son, leaving him with brain injuries and skull fractures, has been jailed for 15 years.

David Hollick’s attack on Kairo Hollick was described in court as a “grotesque” breach of trust between the father and son.

The infant was shaken and subjected to at least one “severe” impact and later died in his mother’s arms at Birmingham Children’s Hospital on February 12, 2020.

Hollick, 29, who was found guilty of manslaughter last month, cried in the dock at Birmingham Crown Court before Mr Justice Dove jailed him on Monday.

The father, from Walsall, claimed at an earlier trial that he had tripped and fallen over whilst carrying Kairo, and he denied murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter.

Medical experts said that Kairo’s injuries were consistent with an assault and he was left with at least two skull fractures and a fracture to his right arm while in the care of his father three days before he died.

Prosecutor David Mason KC told the court Kairo “had not only been shaken violently, but his head had been bashed at least twice” with a hard object in the early hours of February 9, 2020.

The judge told Hollick: “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.”

He added that Kairo’s family had been left in the dark over Hollick’s motivation behind the attacks.

The trial was told how Hollick’s ex-partner, Adina Johnson, dropped their son off at his home as usual on February 7 for the weekend. Hollick had been living in his parents’ conservatory at the time following the breakdown of their relationship.

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In a victim impact statement read to the court before the sentence was passed, 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 added: “Our suffering has been prolonged for years by David Hollick, who continued to deny involvement.”