Kayden’s death was not caused by ‘one killer blow’, expert tells trial

A MEDICAL expert has told the trial of a man accused of killing a three-year-old boy in Londonderry that it was pure conjecture to say which injury caused his death.

Dr Michael Farrell, a consultant neuropathologist at the Beaumont Hospital in Dublin, was called as a defence witness to give evidence in the trial of Liam Whoriskey (25), from Glenabbey Gardens in Derry.

Whoriskey denies the manslaughter of Kayden McGuinness in the child’s Bogside home two years ago.

He also denies causing the child’s death by neglect and a charge of child cruelty.

It is alleged that the offences took place at Colmcille Court between September 16 and 17, 2017, when he was babysitting Kayden and his five-month-old baby sister.

Kayden’s mother, Erin McLaughlin, the defendant’s fiancée, was out socialising.

Questioned by defence barrister Ciaran Mallon QC in relation to 15 bruises found on Kayden’s scalp, Dr Farrell told the jurors that timing and dating when the blows were inflicted was a very difficult and precise science. He

Injuries: Kayden McGuinness

said it was not possible to say which of the injuries had triggered a swelling of the child’s brain, resulting in the catastrophic bleeding and continued swelling of the brain.

“There was not, if you like, one killer blow,” he told the jurors.

He said the “core of the pathological problem” was that the timing of Kayden’s death has not been ascertained. Dr Farrell could not say how the injuries were caused but said that they were consistent with non-accidental injuries which precipitated a cerebral oedema.

He said that the blunt force trauma injuries to Kayden’s scalp could have been caused by someone grabbing the child by the head.

There was no skull fracture and he said that a single blow or a number of blows “can trigger a cascade of brain swelling”.

Asked by Mr Mallon if Kayden’s unusual behavioural pattern on the day before his body was found in his bed could indicate anything unusual, Dr Farrell said any alteration to the behaviour of a child was consistent with concussion.

Cross examined by prosecution barrister Peter Irvine QC, Dr Farrell said it was possible that Kayden had been grabbed by the head, but it was equally possible that he sustained multiple injuries to the head.

He also said that tiredness in a child was also a symptom of concussion.

He said the defence and prosecution submissions on the cause of death “are diametrically opposed” and added “we are all at the mercy of the clinical story”.

Closing arguments will be presented today.

❝ The prosecution and defence submissions on the cause of death are diametrically opposed