'˜Lap dog' shook his domineering partner's baby to death after she texted other men

James Larkin, 26, lost his temper and shook 11 week-old Christopher Larkin, leaving him with an unsurvivable brain injury.

A court heard that Larkin and the baby’s mother Laura Ostle, 21, had a “relationship on the edge” and could “snap at anytime”.

A letter to Christopher’s father, found in a box at their home, was the catalyst that made Larkin snap, the court heard. It was not known whether Larkin knew that he may not have been the child’s biological father.

The couple were heard in the back of a police car “getting their story straight” and Ostle even texted Larkin from the ambulance.

Larkin was found guilty of manslaughter, perverting the course of justice and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice at Sheffield Crown Court on Wednesday.

Ostle was found guilty of perverting the course of justice and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

During the trial, Dafydd Enoch QC, prosecuting, said Christopher “died as a result of being violently shaken by James Larkin in a way which caused him fatal internal head injuries.

“He did not die instantly but in hospital just over a day later as a result of the injuries.”

The court heard Larkin claimed he thought Christopher was unwell and “he shook him in a panic in order to try to revive him. The jury was told that despite sharing the same surname, Larkin was not related to the baby, who was Laura Ostle’s son.

Ostle, 21, was in a relationship with Larkin at the time of the incident, and the court heard the couple had a tempestuous relationship.

Ostle was “domineering, bossy, provocative and aggressive” towards her partner, the court was told.

Mr Enoch said: “She treated him like his lap dog and on occasion he would snap.

“Snap he did, we say in the early hours of the 16th September 2014. Theirs was, the prosecution say, a relationship on the edge.”

The court heard that shortly before the 999 call was made, Ostle appeared to be have been flirtatiously messaging two different men.

Police found a loose letter on the sofa, a draft intended to be sent to the family of Christopher’s father, referring to her pregnancy.

When asked about the letter - Ostle said Larkin knew about it and had even helped her write it.

Mr Enoch told the court: “Larkin said he was aware of the letters and had put them in a box but had not read them.

“If Mr Larkin came across those letters some time on the 16th and learnt for the first time that he was not Christopher’s father - how do you think he would have reacted?”

Paramedics were called to the couple’s home in Doncaster, on the morning of September 16, 2014, after being phoned by Ostle. They found the baby in cardiac arrest.

Christopher was taken to A&E and then transferred to Sheffield Childrens’ Hospital but died on the early hours of September 18.

Mr Enoch said: “An attempt was made to relieve the pressure in Christopher’s skull but it became clear that he had sustained an unsurvivable brain injury.”

The pair will be sentenced next week.

After the verdict, senior crown prosecutor Julian Briggs said: “This was an absolutely tragic case. Baby Christopher was born into the care of two deeply inadequate individuals. His mother’s aggressive and abusive relationship with her boyfriend, Larkin, who was not the child’s father, led him to snap. Christopher was shaken so violently by James Larkin that he suffered unsurvivable brain injury, and died in hospital the next day. He was just eleven and a half weeks old.

“Both defendants told lies to the police in an effort to cover up the obvious truth that Larkin’s actions that morning killed Christopher. In the immediate aftermath and in the days that followed, both were thinking only of saving themselves. They were not thinking of the best interests of the tiny newborn. Unbelievably, Laura Ostle even texted Larkin from the ambulance taking the dying child to hospital in order to align their accounts.

“Larkin has today been found guilty of Nothing will ever be the same for Christopher’s wider family. I hope that these verdicts are of some comfort to them in their grief.”

Detective Chief Inspector Dave Stopford of South Yorkshire Police described the investigation as “lengthy and complicated”, following the “incredibly sad events”.

He said: “The death of a child is always difficult, but when that child was injured and subjected to a violent assault at the hands of someone meant to be responsible for his care, it becomes even more difficult to tolerate or understand.”