Dallas Kelly: Workington baby 'had brain bleeds and rib fractures'

Reece Kelly’s comments were part of a defence statement prepared on his behalf after the 31-year-old pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of his four-month-old son Dallas.

But he denies murder, saying he had no intention of causing 'serious harm'.

The prosecution case is that Kelly 'violently' shook his son, causing him a 'traumatic' and ultimately fatal head injury. A post mortem confirmed that the child had suffered bleeds on the brain and behind his eyes, as well as detached retinas.

The baby’s mother, Georgia Wright, 23, from Workington, denies 'causing or allowing' Dallas’s death.

Both parents have pleaded not guilty to child cruelty, involving them allegedly failing to take their son to medical appointments, failing to seek treatment for previous injuries, and exposing Dallas to illicit drugs.

Further details of Kelly's version of what happened on October 15, 2021, when he was looking after Dallas and the child suffered his injuries, emerged as Home Office pathologist Alison Armour described the results of a post mortem examination of Dallas.

Dallas died at Newcastle's Royal Victoria Hospital when doctors turned off his life support machine, four days after the shaking incident, the jury heard. 

Dr Armour said that during her examination of Dallas, she found small circular bruises – so-called 'finger-tip' bruising – on the baby’s torso as well as six rib fractures, five of which were recent.

The injuries were not, she said, consistent with attempts to resuscitate Dallas.

Questioned by prosecutor Richard Littler KC, she said: “The bruises to the chest are consistent with grip type injuries of the chest, which can be seen in cases of shaking."

The amount of force needed to cause such injuries would be “considerable,” said Dr Armour. The force required to break a baby’s bones would also be considerable. The child would have felt pain from any rib fracture, she said.

Dr Armour went on to describe in detail the brain bleeds, and bleeding in Dallas's eyes, and the 'split' and detached retinas he suffered. His traumatic head injury, said the pathologist, was consistent with him being shaken.

She was then asked about her conclusion about the sudden and traumatic head injury that led to Dallas’s death. She said: “It is my conclusion that the traumatic head injury was non accidental in nature.

“There was no preceding accidental trauma.

Carlisle Crown Court. (Image: Newsquest)

“The marks on the chest are consistent with grip type force being placed around the chest with forceful and vigorous shaking, causing the baby’s head to move backwards and forwards; causing catastrophic internal head injuries which were ultimately responsible for the death of the baby.”

Mr Littler then quizzed Dr Armour about the version of events presented to the court by Kelly, formerly of Hunday Court, Workington, through his lawyers.

He said that October 15, 2021, had started normally with Wright going to work, leaving Kelly looking after Dallas at home.

In the morning, said Kelly, Dallas had been sick and was crying in his room upstairs. Despite trying to settle the child, Dallas would not settle, he said. Frustrated, Kelly had tried to settle the child 'for some time'.

The statement said: “When he shook Dallas, the defendant held Dallas out in front of him, holding his torso under his arms.

"He shook him for seconds only; he didn’t think it was that hard. He didn’t mean to hurt him.”

After he did this, said Kelly, Dallas tensed up and then went floppy. He then panicked, put the child on the bed and tried to rouse him by shaking him.

When he could not wake the child, Kelly went back down the stairs. He performed CPR on the child under instruction from an ambulance service call handler.

As he opened the case earlier, Mr Littler told the jury: “Reece Kelly picked up Dallas and shook him violently, intending at the time to cause Dallas at least really serious injury; as a direct result of that shaking, injuries were sustained by Dallas and those were serious and significant injuries caused to Dallas caused his death.”

There was no dispute that the injuries sustained by the baby led to his death.

On the day his trial began, Kelly indicated that he would admit manslaughter, accepting his 'unlawful act' towards his son.

The barrister said: “Whilst it is accepted that the shaking caused the death of Dallas, Reece Kelly denies intending to cause really serious harm to Dallas when he shook him.

“This case is about the intention that Reece Kelly had towards Dallas. In short, the prosecution suggests that the injuries sustained by Dallas was so extensive and severe that they can only be explained away by Reece Kelly intending really serious injury.

“He used, say the prosecution, considerable and severe force towards Dallas, squeezing and gripping four-month-old Dallas when he picked him up; and forcefully and vigorously shaking him, causing Dallas’s head on his neck to oscillate backwards and forwards, causing severe head injury and ultimately death.”

Referring to Kelly’s guilty plea to manslaughter, the barrister said: “The plea of guilty is a step closer to the truth but, the prosecution suggests, it still falls far short of what actually happened in this case.

“The crown’s case is that Reece Kelly murdered four-month-old Dallas because when he shook him and caused those injuries to him he must have intended him at least really serious harm.”

Mr Littler then addressed the jury about the allegation faced by Wright.

He said: “They lived together and she, Georgia Wright, must have known the risks of leaving her small baby son in the care of Reece Kelly; she knew the risks and she chose simply not to protect Dallas from that risk.”

The barrister went on to outline the prosecution case relating to the cruelty allegation faced by both defendants.

The jury would hear that the defendants chose to sleep in a downstairs room, while Dallas slept in his cot in an upstairs room. The baby was left there 'in distress' and 'unsupervised' while downstairs his parents took drugs, the jury heard.

Despite hearing their child’s distress via a baby monitor, they “chose to do nothing.”

“Drugs came before food,” said Mr Littler.

The court heard that both parents regularly used illicit substances, including cocaine, cannabis, and prescription drugs that included gabapentin. Even as his son was in a Newcastle hospital dying, said Mr Littler, Kelly continued using drugs.

There was medical evidence, continued the barrister, that one of Dallas's rib fractures was sustained six to seven weeks before his death.

“It would have caused pain and distress to this baby boy – pain and distress, the prosecution suggests, that the parents would, or should, have been aware of. No medical treatment was sought for this.”

There was also evidence of an earlier brain bleed.

The jury was given a summary of Kelly’s police interview after his arrest, when he told officers he had gone to his son after hearing him make a croaking noise. He said he wiped the child’s face, and then shook him 'gently'.

At that stage, he denied picking the child up but said he placed his hand 'gently' on the Dallas’s chest before 'shaking him with a bit more force'.

At the time of their son's death, the jury heard, that the defendants were living a 'chaotic lifestyle.'

Mr Littler said: “Both put themselves and their addictions first” and caring for their child came a “very poor second.”

There was a reference in one message from Wright to a friend to her relationship with Kelly being 'toxic,' the court heard.  By October 14, the day before their son was taken to hospital, they were not talking to each other.

The trial continues.