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Gateshead dad left baby son blind and brain damaged in horrific attack after downing 11 cans

Christopher Yates, of Swalwell, subjected the seven-month-old baby to the kind of forces usually seen in a high speed car crash by violently shaking him

[Christopher Yates]

Christopher Yates

A dad left his baby son brain damaged and blind by violently shaking him after drinking 11 cans of lager and snorting cocaine. Christopher Yates had managed to get custody of his child despite it being known he had alcohol issues and within three weeks and four days he had left him with catastrophic and life-changing injuries in shocking attack.

Fuelled by drink and drugs, he lost his temper when the seven-month-old baby was crying during the night and shook him with so much force he suffered injuries usually associated with those who have been in high speed car crashes. He then ignored the badly injured tot and failed to get medical help for hours, going into the bathroom and wrapping a towel around his head to drown out his cries.

Newcastle Crown Court heard Yates, 30, of Morris Road, Swalwell, Gateshead, then lied about what he had done before finally coming clean about the terrible act of violence he had perpetrated on the defenceless baby. He confessed to violently shaking him several times while shouting "shut the f*** up".

The court heard the baby was born in March last year and was taken into care and placed with foster carers. On becoming aware he was the father, Yates worked with social services and successfully gained custody and it was said he had the "best of intentions but underestimated how difficult he would find it".

The court heard Yates' family were aware he'd had issues with alcohol and and believed during the assessment and settling in period he was drinking to excess. Two weeks before the offence, his family formed the view he was struggling to care for the baby and appeared angry with him and, on occasions, was intoxicated.

They advised him to seek help from social services but his family did not appreciate the extent to which he was struggling, the court heard. Yates said he had expected more support from social services than he got once he had full and sole care at the beginning of September.

During a visit by a family member, they found the baby had not been dressed, the home was in disarray, there were dirty nappies lying around and empty alcohol cans indicated Yates was drinking heavily. They also heard him shouting angrily at the baby when he cried and he referred to him as a "little s***".

When asked why he was drinking heavily after working so hard to gain custody, he replied: "I can do whatever I want." The court heard Yates had a history of drink and drug issues since his teenage years and was known to have an "explosive temper" when under the influence of alcohol.

He began to tell his family he didn't think he could cope and that he might have to give the baby back but he didn't actively seek help from social services or the foster parents.

On the day before the attack, in October last year, Yates dropped the baby off with family members at the Metrocentre, asking them to look after him for longer than planned. When he later met up with them, he had been drinking and and taking cocaine and tried to disguise the smell with aftershave.

He returned home with the baby and at 8.15 the following morning he rang the ambulance service reporting the youngster was fitting.

The baby was taken to hospital and Yates initially gave one account before changing it to say the baby had fallen out of a rocking chair. However, after being arrested, he later admitted being responsible for inflicting the injuries. He said he had consumed 11 cans of Foster's lager and snorted a line of cocaine and when the baby woke up for his 2am feed he was crying continuously.

He said he put him at arm's length and forcefully shook him five times while shouting "shut the f*** up". He then put him in his crib and went to the bathroom for an hour with a towel around his head to drown out the sound of him crying. Yates added that he acted out of frustration and desperation and repeatedly apologised.

Sentencing him, Judge Julie Clemitson said: "Only three weeks and four days after receiving (him) into your sole care, you admit, in the early hours of the morning, you lost control of your temper. You were under the influence of alcohol and cocaine, you'd had 11 cans of Foster's and a line of cocaine.

"The episode of shaking is described as exacting the sort of force expected in a high velocity road accident. Yet it was several hours later you took him to hospital."

Due to Yates' initial lies, doctors treated the baby for fits but it was only later, when a CT scan was carried out, that the full extent of his potentially life-threatening injuries were revealed. The baby had suffered a bleed on the brain, was having seizures and had widespread haemorrhaging to both eyes, bruises to his chin, a faint purple mark on the bridge of his nose, prominent blood vessels in both eyes and abrasions on his abdominal wall. It was not clear if he would survive for a time.

He has been left with a range of serious difficulties and his life expectancy is likely to be shortened. Judge Clemitson said: "Simply put, the effect of this offending has been catastrophic."

In a victim impact statement, the child's foster mum said he was with them from birth and "melted our hearts" He is now back with them and she said: "If we had know what we know now, we would never have let him go."

Of Yates, she said: "He was the one person who should have loved and cared for him." The woman added: "He suffered the most horrendous life-changing injuries at the hands of Christopher Yates. We didn't know if he was going to survive but he is a little fighter.

"He has lost his sight now and he will be on medication for the rest of his life. Christopher Yates has robbed this little boy of the life he should have had. He needed someone to look after him.

"He has broken his brain, he has broken his life, he has broken everyone's hearts. All he had to do was phone us and we would have been straight there.

"(The baby's) dad, who was supposed to love and care for his every need has caused these horrific injuries to his innocent little baby, who couldn't fight back. He has changed his life forever, and ours.

"He is our family, we love him and he is back where he is safe. We hope, one day, his sight may return. We promise we will never give up on (him)."

Yates, who has eight previous convictions, pleaded guilty to causing a child to suffer serious physical harm in October last year and was jailed for four years.

Judge Clemitson said: "No sentence can undo any of the harm and distress to (the baby) and those who care about him. Their lives, and indeed yours, are changed irrevocably and forever.

"(He) will never live the life he should have lived, he is consigned to a life of narrow horizons and a life of being reliant on carers.

"This sentence is not intended as a measure of the devastation that is done to his and (his foster parents') lives. No sentence could ever be such a measure."

Rachel Hedworth, defending, said: "He is unable to put into words how utterly sickened he is by his own behaviour. He was simply not equipped with the life skills to cope with the responsibilities of looking after a tiny baby.

"When asked by me why he didn't raise it with professionals that he couldn't cope with looking after the baby, he said he was terrified the baby would be taken from him. He didn't anticipate he would lose control in the way he did on that particular day. He is sad and sorry."

Miss Hedworth added that Yates had suffered violence as a child and has mental health issues.

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