A MAN who killed his six-month-old son by violently shaking him has been jailed for three-and-a-half years.

Kevin Moran, aged 37, of Brighton Street, Wallasey, admitted manslaughter but denied murdering Connor Durkin.

Liverpool Crown Court heard last week that Moran was bad tempered when first awoken and it seemed that temper tragically displayed itself on the fateful day, August 13 last year.

The judge, Mr Justice Ognall, said he accepted it had been an isolated episode with tragic consequences.

"You lost your temper with that baby and shook him so hard he suffered fatal brain injury," he said.

"The death of an infant evokes understandable feelings of grief in any circumstances and to that is inevitably added a sense of outrage when that death is caused by criminal violence.

"I don't doubt that the consequences will be with you for the rest of your days."

Mr Tim Holroyde, QC, prosecuting, told the court that Moran and Miss Jeanette Durkin had been living together since 1983. Connor was their youngest child and she also had two other children living in the house in Edinburgh Road, Wallasey.

The tragedy happened while Miss Durkin was on holiday in North Wales with friends.

Moran later told police he put the boy in his cot at 10pm, smoked cannabis and went to bed at midnight and woke at 8am.

Connor, whose cot was in the same room, was crying and after listening for about 10 to 15 seconds, Moran shook him to make him stop. He returned the baby to the cot and went back to bed, waking two hours later. He rang the emergency services shortly before 11pm, saying that Connor would not wake up.

An ambulance attended and a paramedic said that Moran, who was initially reluctant to accompany Connor to the hospital, did not seem bothered about the child.

At both Arrowe Park Hospital and later at Alder Hey, Moran lied to doctors about shaking the child.

Miss Durkin, who had rushed back from Wales, said that Moran appeared motionless at the hospital and later said he felt guilty.

The baby's life-support machine was switched off two days later.

Mr David Turner, QC, defending, said that Moran had done "a terrible thing to his own baby with terrible consequences."

His behaviour at the hospital was noted as strange, not because he did not care, but because he was in deep shock and terror because of what he had done and what the results would be.

"It was a terrible, momentary lapse of temper with terrible consequences," added Mr Turner.

"Since being in custody he has aged considerably. Every day he has thought of what he did... that he killed his own baby son."

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