Jacob Crouch: Father denies working with mother to murder son

A man accused of murdering his 10-month-old son said he "didn't see anything" that could have caused broken ribs or a fatal injury.

Craig Crouch and partner Gemma Barton are on trial over the death of Jacob Crouch, who died at home in Linton, Derbyshire, in December 2020.

Derby Crown Court previously heard the baby had suffered at least 39 rib fractures and endured a "culture of cruelty" before he died.

The defendants deny murdering him.

The court has been told Jacob died from a "vicious assault", which saw him "kicked or stamped on with such severe force that it fractured a rib and caused a tear in his stomach and bowel".

Jacob later contracted peritonitis - an infection of the lining of the abdominal organs - and died "in his cot, alone", jurors heard.

Mr Crouch, 39, denied lying to police when he said Jacob seemed normal in the days before he found his cold and lifeless body on the morning of 30 December.

Under cross-examination from prosecutor Mary Prior KC, he said he "physically couldn't work out" where blood stains found on a Moses basket sheet in May 2020 had come from.

During the final day of his evidence to the court on Tuesday, he was shown footage of him "dunking" Jacob in a paddling pool, which he denied was a bid to stop him crying.

"If I was doing wrong or mistreating him, I wouldn't be recording it," he said.

Invited to comment on an image sent to him by Ms Barton in August 2020, showing a "nasty bruise" to Jacob's right ear, Mr Crouch said he was told it was the result of him "face-planting" on the floor.

Asked who squeezed Jacob so hard his ribs were broken more than once, he said he now wished "I had noticed something".

"It wasn't me and in front of me I didn't see anything," he said.

"He never gave us any reason to think that he was in pain."

Mr Crouch denied Jacob "screamed like he had never screamed before" and cried for most of the night after being injured, saying he did not remember any crying.

Denying working with Ms Barton to hurt her son and cover up what they had done, he said he "would have pushed harder" for information from her "if I could go back".

"I stayed with Gemma because the very deepest part of my heart was telling me she couldn't have done anything to that boy," he said.

"That boy was a very happy boy in my eyes."

Ms Barton, of Ray Street, Heanor, Derbyshire, and Mr Crouch, of Donisthorpe Lane, Moira, Swadlincote, both deny murder, causing or allowing the death of a child, causing a child to suffer serious physical harm, and three counts of child cruelty.

The trial continues.

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