Final legal points to be addressed in the morning before deliberations begin

THE JURY in the harrowing three-week trial concerning seven-week-old Baby C, who was allegedly raped by his mother’s partner, is expected to retire on Tuesday to consider its verdict.

Jurors heard highly charged closing speeches on the final day of evidence from barristers representing Christopher Phillips, who is accused of raping the infant, and the counsel acting for the baby’s mother.

Prosecuting, Tom Crowther KC described Phillips as “a malignant narcissist” and argued that Baby C’s mother had been manipulated by her new partner after being “dumped” by the baby’s biological father just four days before the birth.

“What the mother saw was the development of a healthy relationship,” he said. “She didn’t see a risk from Christopher Phillips. She may simply have been keen to find someone kind, to replace the baby’s father who left her four days before the birth.”

Crowther outlined the catalogue of injuries sustained by Baby C before his emergency admission to West Wales General Hospital on January 24, 2021. They included a broken wrist, a broken ankle, a bleed on the brain, a swollen testicle and bruising to the chest. None of these injuries had been detected by GPs or hospital clinicians during repeated examinations.

“If the doctor didn’t see the broken bones, how could the mother?” Crowther asked the jury. “None of the doctors or medical consultants identified a brain injury, a wrist injury, an ankle injury or suspicious bruising — and these are highly trained safeguarding professionals. How could the mother see that which the doctors couldn’t?”

He said the mother admitted failing her son but insisted she had never claimed to have seen anything that raised a red flag. He added that parental failure, in various forms, was commonplace.

“Yes, she did fail, but parents fail in big and small ways in their children’s lives. When things happen to our children we wrack our brains, knowing we could have done things differently. Most of us move on. She must now look back to that last moment of love and peace with her baby, with a man who did everything to take it from her.”

Crowther also dismissed any suggestion that Phillips’ strong interest in anal sex should have alerted the mother to danger.

“Anal sex for Mr Phillips is an abiding passion, but it is also part of many people’s sexual repertoire,” he said. “The idea that the mother should have linked that to the baby’s bottom bleed makes no sense. She asked her family, she asked her doctors, and she even asked her new partner. Phillips suggested it may have been a haemorrhoid. This nineteen-year-old new mum didn’t know that babies don’t get haemorrhoids.”

For the defence, John Hipkin KC told the jury that despite the horrific nature of the case, “things aren’t as clear cut as they seem”.

“This has been a horrendous case and we acknowledge that Baby C has been catastrophically physically and sexually abused,” he said. “The issue is who did it. Christopher Phillips has denied it throughout, and the question is whether the prosecution has proved he was the perpetrator.

“Anyone hearing this case would feel emotion — revulsion springs to mind. And if it were a popularity contest, Christopher Phillips would be low on your list. But you don’t find him guilty because you don’t like him. You can only convict if you are sure.”

Hipkin urged the jury to view the evidence with “scepticism”.

“There is no evidence linking him physically to any of the injuries,” he said. “He was around Baby C and had access to him — and that is it. He only had access when the mother was in the same room or briefly in another room of the small flat. It is a huge leap for the prosecution to say Phillips was responsible.”

In his summing up, Judge Paul Thomas reminded the jury of the extent of Baby C’s injuries. The head injury was described as being “akin to falling off a building or being in a road accident”, well beyond rough handling. The anal injuries — including a gaping wound — were so severe the baby could only be settled with morphine. A specialist paediatric medic told the court she had administered morphine to such a young baby only “a handful of times” in 25 years. The baby had also suffered blunt force trauma to a testicle.

At around 3.50pm today (Monday), Judge Thomas told the court that the case will resume in the morning. He said two minor legal points remain, each expected to take no more than a minute. Once they are dealt with, the jury will retire to consider its verdict. “It will take as long as it takes,” the judge said.

Phillips, 34, of Kiln Park, Burton, is charged with causing serious physical and sexual harm to Baby C in January 2021. The baby’s mother faces separate charges of allowing serious physical harm and child cruelty for allegedly failing to protect her son.

The jury is expected to begin its deliberations on Tuesday.