Telford mother denies killing baby son
A 20-year-old woman accused of killing her baby son has told a jury she was not responsible for his death.
Ashlea Thomas told Birmingham Crown Court that neither she nor her husband Paul Thomas were responsible for the fatal injuries received by their son Oliver Sargent.
However, she admitted that the evidence pointed towards them being the only people who could have done it.
The court heard yesterday the baby's injuries – broken ribs, a head fracture, bleeding on the brain, bruising and a fractured tibia – were the equivalent of him being involved in a 40mph collision with a car.
Ashlea Thomas, formerly Sargent, of Dalford Court, Hollinswood, Telford, was cross-examined for more than two hours before a jury yesterday.
She admitted using the term "lol" (laugh out loud) in a text to her husband just after describing a bruise that their son had received in March, two months before the fatal night. However, she said the term was used out of habit and was not meant to be callous.
Thomas, a nursery school worker, repeatedly denied prosecution accusations that she had hurt her son, or that her partner had done so.
Prosecuting, Mr Andrew Smith said that as Thomas agreed Oliver had not suffered injuries at nursery, nor while under the care of her sister, nor during medical examinations, the injuries must have taken place at their home in Priory Way, St Georges.
"The only people who could be responsible for serious injuries is you or Paul or both of you together," he said.
Thomas agreed, but denied that either of them had done it.
The court was told that Oliver had suffered severe injuries including broken ribs three to five days before he was rushed to Telford's Princess Royal Hospital on July 27, 2012 after he stopped breathing.
The trial continues.
