Lucy Vladev Wales , Swansea Crown Court
Family photoA man “full of rage” killed his partner’s baby after shaking him with such violence he caused catastrophic brain injuries, a jury has been told.
Thomas Morgan, 29, denies murdering five-month-old Jensen-Lee Dougal at the family home in Swansea.
Morgan was left alone with Jensen-Lee while his partner Jordan Dougal went to work, but Swansea Crown Court heard he became angry following an abusive text exchange with an ex-girlfriend.
Jensen-Lee died on 31 March 2024 in his mother’s arms after life-support in hospital was removed.
Morgan, of Gorseinon, also denies three counts of causing the baby grievous bodily harm with intent between January and March 2024.
Prosecution barrister Caroline Rees KC said Morgan’s actions amounted to deliberate abuse which included “significant and excessive force”.
The defendant was treated as Jensen-Lee’s stepfather, the court heard, after he met the baby early into his relationship with Dougal and spent most of his time at their house.
Rees said the mother felt there was “no reason for her to have concerns” about leaving her son with Morgan as he had two children from a previous relationship who he still spent time with.
But the jury was told Morgan “seriously abused the trust placed in him” by causing serious injuries to Jensen-Lee while he was alone with him.
Rees said that while “angry and in temper” he violently assaulted Jensen-Lee by “shaking him with such force as to cause catastrophic brain injuries”.
She added the shaking also caused multiple fractures and haemorrhaging behind his eye.
The prosecution said that while “the violence reached its peak” at the end of March 2024, there had also been previous incidents where Morgan had inflicted injuries on the baby.
On 30 March, Rees said Morgan dropped his children off with their mother in Plasmarl in Swansea.
The jury were told at this point one of the children caught their hand in the car door and, although it was accidental, it caused an argument between Morgan and the children’s mother Georgia Griffiths.
After returning home, the prosecution said by that point it was clear “his mood has changed” and what followed in the hours after was an “abusive exchange” of messages between Griffiths and Morgan.
Rees said this “flipped a switch” in the defendant with the exchange lasting about an hour and a half.
The barrister said it was “not coincidence that it is shortly after this that Jensen-Lee must have sustained the catastrophic injuries that were to end his short life”.
Neighbour performed CPR
While at work, Dougal received a call from Morgan in which he told her the baby was choking and had stopped breathing, the court heard.
The defendant, carrying the baby, fled the house in Clydach to get help from a neighbour.
The jury was taken through evidence which included CCTV footage showing Morgan carrying the limp baby out of the house on Players Avenue in his arms and passing him to a neighbour, who began to perform CPR.
An audio recording of a 999 call from a neighbour was also played to the jury, in which he can be heard saying Jensen-Lee is not breathing.
The phone is then passed to Morgan who can be heard crying as the operator asks if the baby is breathing, to which he responds “no, I don’t think so”.
The court heard Morgan said he had found Jensen-Lee unresponsive and with vomit in his mouth after leaving him briefly alone to fetch a clean babygro.
The baby was transported to University Hospital Wales in Cardiff and suffered a cardiac arrest.
The court heard CT scans showed evidence of extensive brain swelling, injury and bleeding.
Evidence of rib fractures was also found, while Jensen-Lee’s brain injury was described by neurosurgeons as “devastating”.
It was felt that any surgical intervention would be futile, the court heard.
On 31 March doctors took a decision to “initiate safeguarding procedures” because of the injuries.
Later that evening the court heard Dougal was able to hold Jenson-Lee in her arms while life support was withdrawn.
The trial continues.
