Ian Darnell

Ian Darnell was found in his cot at his home in Maple Drive, Huntington, on 4 October 1984.

The child's 26-year-old father was tried for murder and manslaughter, but acquitted on both charges, but convicted of ill-treating the child.

Ian Darnell's father had been an unemployed painter. He had lived with his partner for the previous 7 years and as well as Ian Darnell they had two other children.

Ian Darnell was found to have had 2 broken thighs, 28 rib fractures and a 7cm fracture of the skull.

It was thought that the skull fracture had probably caused his death. However, a Home Office pathologist said that it was impossible exactly to define the cause of death, stating that it was:

The prosecution claimed that his father had been cruel to him between dates that covered the whole of Ian Darnell's lifespan.

A doctor was called out to the council house where they lived at about 3.50pm on 4 October 1984. When he arrived he found Ian Darnellclothed and beneath an eiderdown and blanket in a carry-cot placed inside a cot.

When the doctor told the father that Ian Darnell was dead, the father told him that Ian Darnell had been laid down earlier at 12.30am that morning after a feed.

Ian Darnell's mother, who lived with the father in the same house said that she checked Ian Darnell at 8.30am and again at 12.30pm.

Ian Darnell's father said that when he checked and shook him and that when he didn't move he became scared and called the doctor's surgery.

A pathologist said that he thought that the faracture to the skull had been caused only an hour before Ian Darnell's death.

At the trial the prosecution submitted that Ian Darnell's father had been caught out in three seperate lies when interviewed by the police.

When Ian Darnell's father was questioned by the police, he said:

When he was told that he had been the last person to handle Ian Darnell before he died and that Ian Darnell's skull had been fractured shortly before his death, Ian Darnell's father broke down and started to cry and said:

Ian Darnell's father denied the charges against him, including wilfully inntreating Ian Darnell in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering.

He denied handling Ian Darnell roughly, but admitted that when he was angry with his continuous crying that he sometimes put him in the bathroom in his cot.

When he was asked about lies that he had told and why he had got others to lie about his movements on the day of Ian Darnell's death, he said:

THe police said that Ian Darnell's father had been rational in their interviews, but that when it was suggeseted that he caused the injuries, he immediately started shouting.

A health visitor said that she saw Ian Darnell 3 weeks after his birth and became concerned and immediately arranged for him to be seen by a doctor. She said:

She said that during later visits to the surgety, Ian Darnell looked better and less dehydrated.

She said that the day before Ian Darnell died that she rang the couple's house to find out why Ian Darnell's mother had not brought Ian Darnell to the surgery for his 6 weeks test and her own post-natal check, but the mother was not at home and she spoke to Ian Darnell's fatherwho told her that he would pass the message on.

She added:

A doctor at the surgury inHigh Street, Huntingdon, said that he examined Ian Darnell when he was 2 weeks old. He said that he undressed him, adding:

At the trial, it was submitted that the only commonsense explanation for the terrible injuries that killed Ian Darnell was that they were caused by his father.

However, Ian Darnell's father claimed that his mother had committed the injuries. He sid that he never harmed Ian Darnell, and that he loved all of his three children.

When trhe prosecution addressed the jury, they said:

In the final speach of the defence, they said:

THe defence noted that the whole basis of thet prosecution was that Ian Darnell's mother didn't cause the injuries to Ian Darnell, and that, therefore, his father did, but noted that the facat was that thre was no direct evidence against anybody.