Mum says boyfriend fatally injured her baby while she was out
AMUM’S lawyer yesterday accused her partner of being responsible for their baby’s fatal injuries when she went to a corner shop.
Romanian-born Mihai-Catalin Gulie and Gabriela Ion are both on trial at Liverpool Crown Court following the death of their six-month-old baby son Robert on February 21 this year.
Gulie denies a charge of murder, while his wife Ion denies a charge of causing or allowing the death of a child.
The couple had moved from their native Romania in 2019 to Widnes, where Ion had family.
Their baby son Robert, who was only six months old when he died, had Down’s Syndrome along with a range of other medical complications.
He had spent most of his short life in hospital, but had returned to live with his parents and older sister at their address in Mersey Road, Widnes, just before last Christmas.
The prosecution claims that Gulie shook his baby son so violently while alone with him at the house that he suffered catastrophic injuries which ultimately proved fatal.
Gulie took to the witness box to begin his defence against the murder charge. He gave his evidence through a Romanian interpreter as he said he spoke no English.
John Benson QC, representing Gulie’s partner Gabriela Ion, said: “I’m not going to suggest you killed your little boy.
“The sad reality is that on the morning of February 18, you lost your temper and that you shook little Robert and probably threw him down on the sofa.
“You were responsible for the injuries that later claimed his life. No doubt you bitterly regret it and wish you could turn the clock back. But you can’t admit it.”
Gulie replied: “How could I admit to something I haven’t done?”
Gulie said the only occasion on which he had used physical violence against Robert was when he “slapped him gently on the bottom” and dropped him a short height on to some pillows.
He admitted he was “tired” from work and the baby’s non-stop crying had caused him to lose his temper.
Under cross-examination, Gulie also admitted he had once “forcefully pushed” his partner Ion because she hadn’t cooked for him on his return from work, and had also slapped his daughter’s bottom once.
On the day Robert received his injuries, Gulie had been involved in an email conversation with a Citizens Advice Bureau representative about being reimbursed for the daily taxi rides he and Ion made to visit Robert in hospital, which he said amounted to £4,000.
Gulie said he noticed Robert had turned yellow and stopped breathing while “sitting with him on the sofa and watching TV.”
They were alone in the house at the time as Ion and their daughter had popped out to a nearby corner shop.
He said: “I don’t know what happened to him. I was watching TV and when I stood up, he was yellow in the face and breathless.
“I didn’t even touch him or put my hands on him.”
Gulie denied he “lost his temper easily” and said his relationship with his partner was “very good” and they rarely argued.
Under cross-examination from Nicholas Johnson QC, for the prosecution, Gulie admitted that he had “slapped” Robert once on the bottom and “thrown him down on the bed” even though he knew “he had to be held like porcelain.”
Gulie said: “I was tired and angry, yes.”
He said he used the phrase that he had “the devil inside him” when he lost his temper, but added: “That was the only time the devil got inside me.”
He denied he had “minimised” the violence he had used towards his partner and to Robert.
● Proceeding
John Benson QC