Four-month-old baby who died with 36 rib fractures was shaken by mother's teenage partner, jury told

Warning: Readers may find the details in this article upsetting

A four-month-old baby was shaken to death by his mother's 16-year-old partner, a jury has heard.

Carl Alesbrook was 16 when he is alleged to have killed Elijah Shemwell, just seven weeks after meeting the child's mother India Shemwell in November 2021.

Now aged 19, Alesbrook, of Upper Greenhill Gardens, Matlock, denies the charges of murder and two counts of causing grievous bodily harm leading to baby Elijah's death.

The prosecution case, lead by prosecutor Vanessa Marshall KC said medical evidence showed Elijah had suffered brain damage and a bleed to the brain from shaking on three separate occasions, including on New Year's Day and January 2nd 2022.

Ms Marshall told the jury that Elijah was injured when Alesbrook was left alone with the baby at Shemwell's home in Acorn Drive, Belper, Derbyshire.

She also said that India, Elijah's mother, remained "emotionally and sexually involved" with the baby's father and that numerous interactions between the young defendant and India would lead to "some understandable frustration about the uncertainty of the status of his relationship".

"Between the months of mid-November 2021 and early January 2022 Elijah Shemwell, only four-months-old, was left by his mother India Shemwell in this defendant Carl Alesbrook’s care.

"And rather than protect him, it is the prosecution’s case that instead, this defendant shook Elijah on at least two occasions, resulting in symptoms of brain damage or dysfunction and subdural bleeding, prior to a final shake on the 2nd of January, which caused catastrophic head injuries and his premature death a few days later.

"You will also hear members of the jury that in addition to the head trauma, this defendant caused rib and limb fractures to Elijah’s body, one to two days before his admission to hospital on the 2nd of January."

Explaining the issues for the jury, the prosecutor added: "It may well be that it is not the cause of death which is the key issue in this case but rather who caused Elijah’s death.

"Because you will hear that when the defendant was interviewed by the police on several occasions after his arrest, that he denied inflicting any injuries on Elijah or harming him by shaking."

India aged 21 at the time of her son's death and now aged 23, was described as a "thoroughly inadequate mother" who neglected Elijah and failed to get him medical attention on January 1st and January 2nd.

But, the prosecutor did say that she does not believe Miss Shemwell caused any of the injuries to her baby.

The court was also shown a mobile phone video of Elijah struggling for breath after his admission to hospital. The prosecutor said that India dialed 999 and said to the operator "I’ve just come back from the shop and my four-month-old isn’t breathing very well and he’s gone pale and limp."

The court was told that in the opinion of a consultant forensic pathologist, "in addition to shaking, there had been impacts to the face, either as the result of blows being delivered, or Elijah striking a surface."

The pathologist confirmed that there is no plausible explanation for “the constellation of injuries present” other than from an assault.

The trial, which is expected to last four weeks, continues.

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