Walsall dad sentenced to 15 years for baby manslaughter
His 6-month-old son died from a non-survivable brain injury.
Last updated 15th Apr 2024
A Walsall man's been sentenced to 15 years for the manslaughter of his six-month-old son.
David Hollick, 29, of Walsall, was convicted of the manslaughter of Kairo Hollick in February 2022 - and was seen crying in the dock at Birmingham Crown Court before he was jailed.
The six-month-old died on 12 February 2020 after suffering from a traumatic brain injury and skull fractures. Expert evidence presented at trial demonstrated that his father violently shook him and hit his head against a hard surface. Kairo also suffered a fracture to his right forearm.
David Hollick, 29 of Walsall, denied causing catastrophic injuries to Kairo and gave no plausible reasons as to how his son suffered the injuries.
The court heard that Kairo was in his father’s care for the weekend having been dropped off by his mother on 7 February 2020 as part of their usual custody arrangements.
However, two days later, Kairo was rushed to hospital in a floppy and unresponsive state. Tests revealed he had suffered devastating injuries including bleeding on the brain, fractures to his skull and bruising to his head and body.
When doctors who treated him asked David Hollick what happened, he lied and claimed Kairo had suddenly stopped breathing and that he had shaken him to wake him up.
However, his explanation was not consistent with Kairo's injuries, which experts said were comparable to those sustained during a fall from a height, or a car crash.
Despite the best efforts of doctors at Birmingham Children’s Hospital, it was impossible to save Kairo as his injuries were too severe.
On 12 February 2020, Kairo’s life support system was turned off and he died in his mother’s arms.
During sentencing, Mr Justice Dove told Hollick: "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.
"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, alongside shaking.
He also told Hollick: "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."