Father convicted of murdering four-week-old son Atticus in Chard, Somerset

Tony Bartlett, 39, was found guilty of fatally shaking his infant son after returning drunk from a night out. Atticus died seven days after the attack in July 2022.

Jury convicts Somerset father of infant son's murder after drunken attack

Tony Bartlett, 39, has been found guilty of murdering his four-week-old son Atticus after violently shaking the baby at the family home in Chard, Somerset, on 16 July 2022. BBC News reports that Bartlett had consumed up to nine pints of beer during a night out before the fatal attack.

The jury at Bristol Crown Court returned its verdict following a trial in which medical experts described injuries to Atticus consistent with a car crash or a fall from a height. The baby sustained severe brain damage, spinal cord injuries and three rib fractures that could not be attributed to resuscitation efforts. He never regained consciousness and was unable to breathe independently. He died just before midnight on 23 July 2022, seven days after the attack.

The judge told Bartlett, of Axminster in Devon, to expect a life sentence when he appears for sentencing at Bristol Crown Court on 24 July.

The night of the attack

Bartlett and his then-partner Evelyn Ballentyne had gone to a pub and comedy club — their first evening out since Atticus was born. After returning home, Ballentyne went upstairs, leaving Bartlett alone to feed the baby. When she came back downstairs, she found Atticus looking "lifeless". She later told the court she heard him make two loud gasps, as though he was dying.

Emergency services were called to the property. Atticus was taken to Musgrove Park Hospital before being transferred to Bristol Royal Hospital for Children, where he died.

Bartlett's defence rejected

Throughout the trial, Bartlett — formerly a postman — denied harming his son. His legal team suggested Ballentyne could have caused the fatal injuries. She was initially arrested alongside Bartlett but was never charged, and gave evidence as a prosecution witness.

Prosecuting counsel Charles Row KC dismissed that line of defence. "Mr Bartlett can't admit to himself that when he was drunk, in a moment of pure violence, he did something that he will regret for the rest of his life," Row told the court.

Verdict and reaction

Members of Atticus's family wept and gasped in the public gallery as the verdict was read out. Bartlett, appearing by videolink, sobbed loudly.

The judge thanked jurors for their care and attention, and released them from jury service for five years.

Det Supt Lorett Spierenburg, the senior investigating officer, said after the verdict: "This is a devastating case in which a very young baby has lost his life as the direct result of a violent and cruel act. The loss of Atticus has had a profound effect on all those who loved him."

She added that Bartlett had been alone with Atticus when the baby suffered his catastrophic injuries, and that the medical evidence gathered during the investigation proved he was solely responsible, "despite his claims of innocence."

Source: BBC News