The father of a two-week-old baby has been found guilty of murdering him in hospital.
Daniel Gunter, 27, killed his son, Brendon Staddon, on 5 March 2024, a jury at Bristol Crown Court has concluded.
Baby Brendon suffered “catastrophic injuries” to his head, neck, legs and jaw, while he was a patient at the special care baby unit at Yeovil District Hospital in Somerset.
The jury found Gunter guilty of his son’s murder, but the baby’s mother, Gunter’s former partner Sophie Staddon, 23, was cleared of causing or allowing the death of a child.
Staddon was previously found not guilty of murder, and Gunter was cleared of causing or allowing the death of a child on the direction of the trial judge, Mr Justice Swift.
The defendants showed no emotion as the verdicts were returned.
“Daniel Gunter, you have been found guilty of murder. You will be remanded into custody pending the sentencing hearing,” the judge said.
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“Sophie Staddon, you have been acquitted by the jury. Your bail will no longer be necessary, and you are free to go.”
Gunter, of no fixed address, will be sentenced on a later date yet to be fixed.
The court heard hospital staff had discovered Brendan’s serious injuries after Staddon told nurses her son was cold and asked them to check on him around 4am.
But while staff rushed to Brendon’s cot to try and save him, his parents walked outside for a cigarette, Charles Row KC, prosecuting, said during the three-week trial.
He said Brendon was found with his baby grow open, and staff soon realised he had suffered devastating injuries.
“In plain language, his head had been crushed so as to shatter his skull. He was badly bruised from head to toe, with deep scratches in his neck,” Mr Row said.
“He was later found to have, amongst other injuries, a broken neck, a broken jaw, broken legs, broken ankles and broken wrists.”
Staff carried the baby’s “limp, lifeless body” to the resuscitation area, but Brendon did not respond to treatment.
His parents were arrested by police outside the hospital as they were smoking.
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Social services and Gunter’s family had raised concerns about the couple’s “lack of emotional warmth” toward their child before his death, Mr Row said.
A post-mortem examination found Brendon died of “blunt force impact(s) head injury” with multiple non-accidental injuries to the head.
The prosecution said during the trial that the jury needed to understand the “sheer brutality” involved in Brendon’s death, with Mr Row adding that “there was hardly a part of his body that was spared”.
