A 39-year-old man has been convicted of murdering his four-week-old baby son by shaking him.
Atticus Bartlett passed away in hospital after collapsing at his family home in Chard, Somerset, on 16 July 2022. Tony Bartlett had denied murder and an alternative count of manslaughter.
A jury at Bristol Crown Court unanimously convicted former postman Bartlett of murder on Wednesday afternoon. Mr Justice Cavanagh remanded him into custody, and he is due to be sentenced on 24 July.
The judge said: “There is only one sentence for murder, which is a life sentence. I have to fix a minimum sentence before the defendant can be considered for release.”
Members of Atticus’s family gasped and wept in the public gallery of courtroom two after the verdict was read out. Bartlett, appearing by videolink from the dock at Bristol Magistrates’ Court, sobbed loudly.
The judge thanked jurors for the “care and attention” they had given the case, adding that they had served “magnificently”.
“It is clear that you have given this very important case the detailed consideration that it deserves,” he added.
He released them from jury service for the next five years.
Jurors heard how the attack on Atticus may have been over in seconds. Prosecuting, Charles Row KC said Bartlett had been “drunk and frustrated” when he attacked his newborn son.
Bartlett and his then-partner Evelyn Ballentyne, Atticus’s mother, had gone to a pub and comedy club that evening. Ms Ballentyne’s mother Rachel Donovan and her husband Andrew went to the family home on Darcis Row, Chard, to care for Atticus while his parents were out.
Over the evening, Bartlett drank 8.5 pints of lager before returning home with Ms Ballentyne. He was left alone to feed Atticus in the living room while Ms Ballentyne went upstairs to change at about 11pm.
Mr Row said: “He would have been disinhibited and therefore more cavalier in his handling of Atticus.
“He would have been potentially less tolerant, less patient, less able to control his temper and frustration.”
It was alleged that, in the short period of time that Ms Ballentyne was upstairs, Bartlett violently shook Atticus, causing severe internal injuries to the baby’s brain and spinal cord.
Atticus sustained three rib fractures which could not be attributed to resuscitation efforts. Giving evidence, Ms Ballentyne described coming downstairs and hearing Atticus making two loud gasps as if he was dying.
“Mr Bartlett can’t admit to himself that when he was drunk, in a moment of pure violence, he did something that he will regret for the rest of his life,” Mr Row told jurors.
During the trial, Bartlett insisted he had not harmed his son. His legal team suggested Ms Ballentyne could have caused the fatal injuries.
She was initially arrested alongside Bartlett but was never charged and appeared as a prosecution witness during the trial.
Emergency services attended the property and Atticus was taken to Musgrove Park Hospital before being transferred to Bristol Royal Hospital for Children.
His brain damage was so severe he did not regain consciousness or breathe for himself. Atticus died just before midnight on July 23 2022.
After the hearing, Detective Superintendent Lorett Spierenburg said: “This is a devastating case in which a very young baby has lost his life as the direct result of a violent and cruel act.
“The loss of Atticus has had a profound effect on all those who loved him.
“Tony Bartlett was alone with Atticus when he suffered these catastrophic injuries and the medical evidence gathered during the investigation proves he was solely responsible for causing them, despite his claims of innocence.
“Our thoughts are very much with Atticus’s family who’ve had to endure a lengthy and complex police investigation, followed by a trial. They’ve shown great dignity and courage throughout.”
Bartlett, of Axminster, Devon, will be sentenced at Bristol Crown Court on 24 July.
