Drug addict shook baby to death, murder trial told

A drug addict shook his partner's baby son to death following a campaign of deliberate assaults, a court has heard.

Jake Drummond, 33, is accused of murdering Jacob Lennon on 27 August 2019 after taking cocaine with a friend.

He is also accused of unlawfully or maliciously wounding the boy with intent to cause serious harm.

Mr Drummond's then partner, Louise Lennon, 32, is accused of causing or allowing the death and child cruelty.

The pair, from Wandsworth, south-west London, deny all charges.

The Old Bailey heard texts between them revealed "a reference to putting him in the torture chamber" and Ms Lennon referring to Jacob as looking like "a little madman" because of his bruises.

Jurors were told unemployed Mr Drummond had taken cocaine the day before the fatal attack after becoming angry at having to go to a police station because he had been reported by his ex-girlfriend for harassment.

Jacob was found at the defendants' flat in Roehampton, south-west London, with massive swelling and bruising on his face after his mother called 999, claiming he had bumped his head "like he fell out of bed or something", jurors were told.

His skull was "almost soft and spongy-like", the court heard, and his testicles were swollen. Traces of cocaine were also found in his system.

Prosecutor Sally O'Neill KC told jurors: "It is the Crown's case that Jake Drummond had embarked on a campaign of deliberately assaulting and hurting Jacob between July and the end of August."

She went on to tell the court that it was "almost inconceivable" that Ms Lennon would not have heard the sounds of the last assault on her son, "but even if she didn't, she not only did nothing about it but contrived with Jake Drummond to concoct a story".

A post-mortem examination found Jacob died after multiple episodes of trauma culminating in the infliction of the fatal head injury, and that it was likely Jacob's head came into contact with a hard surface while he was being shaken.

The court heard he had several previous injuries, which were days to weeks old.

The trial continues.

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