'You had a sudden fit of anger. You vented that anger on your tiny baby son,' the judge told the defendant

A father who murdered his newborn son in a moment of "pure violence" has been jailed for life.

Four-week-old Atticus Bartlett died in hospital after he collapsed at his Somerset home back on July 16 2022.

His father, Tony Bartlett, 39, of Axminster, Devon, was convicted of murder by a jury at Bristol Crown Court earlier this month.

Bartlett violently shook Atticus, causing severe internal injuries to the baby’s brain and spinal cord.

Mr Justice Cavanagh jailed Bartlett for life and ordered him to serve a minimum of 18 years behind bars.

He said Bartlett was "very drunk" at the time of the attack. He said: "I have no doubt that this terrible tragedy would not have happened if you were not so heavily intoxicated."

"In your drunken state, Atticus’s inability to take the bottle as well as you thought he should enraged you," the judge said.

"You had a sudden fit of anger. You vented that anger on your tiny baby son. You shook him very violently indeed, gripping him very tightly round his ribcage.

"This only lasted a few seconds or at most a minute or so. Just in that brief moment, you wanted to cause Atticus serious injury.

"As suddenly as you began, you stopped, your anger evaporated, and then you dozed off."

He said: "Atticus should have had a long and happy life ahead of him. His life was ended before it really began.

"I say at the outset that I’m sure that you did not intend to kill Atticus… You did, however, intend to cause him really serious harm."

LATEST CRIME:

He said the "most significant aggravating factors" include Atticus's "extreme youth and vulnerability", adding his action was a "gross abuse of trust".

The judge continued: “Nobody is more vulnerable and reliant on others than a blameless one-month-old baby – he could not stand up by himself.

“As Atticus’s father you were one of the two people, above anyone else, to whom he was entitled to look to for love and protection.

“You have known all along that it was you, and no-one else, who was responsible for Atticus’s injuries.

“It is likely that you immediately regretted what you had done, though not so much that you were prepared to own up to it or to express remorse for it.”

The same evening the baby died, Barlett went to a pub and comedy club with his partner at the time, Evelyn Ballentyne, Atticus's mother, where he drank eight and a half pints of lager.

Charles Row KC said Ms Ballentyne went upstairs for several minutes and left Atticus in Bartlett's "sole care". She returned to find her son face down across Bartlett's lap.

Mr Row said: "She said ‘he’s dead, he’s not breathing’. She noted that the defendant appeared to be asleep or at least his eyes were closed.

"The defendant flipped Atticus over. Atticus released two gasps and appeared to be floppy and lifeless."

The newborn was taken to Musgrove Park Hospital, then Bristol Royal Hospital for Children but due to the severity of his brain damage, he was unable to regain consciousness or breathe by himself.

"I will never see him hit milestones. I will never see him go to school. I will never see him grow up and have a family of his own," Ms Ballentyne, who now suffers from "severe anxiety" told the court.

She asked: "Who plans their baby’s funeral? Who goes to the chapel of rest?

"I had to wait 11 hours and 18 minutes for Atticus to die. It was horrendous."