Plymouth dad jailed for killing his baby boy

A man has been jailed after he confessed to killing his six-month-old son after shaking him violently when he wouldn't stop crying.

Lee Anthony Sweet spent a year denying he was responsible for murder but today pleaded guilty to manslaughter of Ruben Sweet-Harris.

Ruben suffered a "catastrophic"' brain injury and had several rib fractures after Sweet shook him until he became unresponsive and floppy.

The 26-year-old was sentenced to five years and four months at Plymouth Crown Court which prompted an angry reaction from family and friends of Ruben.

The court heard how Sweet had looked after Ruben overnight in a shared house in Stoke area of Plymouth from May 27 to May 28 last year.

For nearly a year Sweet denied he had harmed his six-month-old, which caused a year of medical investigations.

He finally admitted in police interview on May 1 that he had shaken Ruben because he would not stop crying.

Sweet called the ambulance service and the boy’s mother at about 7.25am.

Ruben, who had suffered a brain injury, never recovered and died in hospital three days later.