A BABY boy whose father is accused of his murder suffered a brain bleed between one to three weeks before he sustained the traumatic head injury that caused his death, a Carlisle Crown court jury heard.

Consultant neuropathologist Dr Daniel Du Plessis outlined his conclusions on day three of the trial triggered by the death of four-month-old Dallas Kelly.

His father Reece Kelly, 31, admits manslaughter but denies murder, saying he “gently” shook his son “for seconds only,” but never intended to hurt him. The baby’s mother, 23-year-old Georgia Wright denies causing or allowing her son’s death.

The prosecution case is that Kelly “violently” shook his son, causing the brain injury that led to his death four days later.

Both parents deny a second charge of child cruelty, involving them allegedly failing to take their son to medical appointments and exposing him to illicit drugs.

In his evidence, Dr Du Plessis said the older brain injury identified in Dallas after his death resulted from a “traumatic event.” Richard Littler KC, prosecuting, asked the doctor: “Would it be shaking?”

Dr Du Plessis replied: “It could be; it could also be a blow.”

Mr Littler also questioned the doctor about evidence of bleeding around Dallas’s spine, prompting the doctor to comment that this was “an important finding” in the case. It pointed “very strongly” to a non-accidental mechanism of injury.

He said the “fingertip” bruising found on Dallas’s torso would have been the result of him being gripped with “considerable force.”

Asked about one of six rib fracture found on Dallas, which was estimated to have been six to 12 weeks old, Dr Du Plessis said: “There are two occasions when something happened involving physical force.”

Commenting on the head injuries Dallas sustained on October 15, the doctor said: “Such injury was most likely the result of forceful shaking. A fatal head injury would have occurred while he was in the sole care of his father.”

The prosecutor then asked Dr Du Plessis to comment on the account given by Kelly of what he had done on the morning of October 15, 2021, when he said he “gently” shook his son to rouse him, denying he did this “violently.”

Kelly, formerly of Hunday Court, Workington, said the baby’s head “never left the pillow.”

The doctor said: “There has never been a case in which a child was fatally injured in that manner.” He said it was “inconceivable” that the actions described by Kelly would have caused the injuries Dallas sustained.

The jury also heard from consultant ophthalmologist Dr Jo McPartland. Her examination of Dallas's eyes revealed extensive retinal bleeding and detachments.

She concluded, she said, that the injuries were non-accidental.

Mr Littler said: “Would injuries of this nature be consistent with a conclusion of shaking?” The doctor replied: “If there is a forceful, repetitive shaking, which forces the head to move backwards and forwards on the neck to the extremes of movement then that can cause all of the findings I identified.”

The injuries Dallas sustained were at “the severe end of the spectrum” for such injuries, seen in accidental injuries "of the most severe type", such as motor vehicle accidents, or multi storey falls, or cases of head crushing.

The trial is expected to last between three and five weeks.