Father kills one-year-old son by slamming him against bedhead and repeatedly punching him
WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT
A father from Queensland, Australia, who killed his toddler son by slamming the child against a bedhead, used to reportedly punch the child on the head often if he called out during the night, a shocked court heard. The man's violent actions culminated in 21-month-old Corby Mitchell's death. The toddler died from brain injuries in the hospital just two days after his father, 37-year-old Shane Purssell Akehurst, threw him violently against the wooden frame of a bed in the family home on March 25, 2015. Corby's aunt Tanya is demanding that the judge gives Akehurst a life sentence. She and some other family members sat through the sentencing submission, which she said made her sick.
The entire incident has also torn the family apart with Tanya no longer speaking to her sister, who is Corby's mother, because of the court case. She said: "I don't class them as family anymore." News.com.au reported that the child had been alone with his father at their isolated rural family home in the Sunshine Coast while the rest of the family had been away shopping. The Brisbane Supreme Court heard on March 11 that the violent impact on the baby's head was so strong that it immediately caused whiplash and his eyes to bleed internally.