Leon Mathias: Man found guilty of murdering his baby son following trial at Sheffield Crown Court

Leon Mathias of Stonebridge Lane, in Great Houghton, Barnsley denied murdering his two-month-old son, Hunter, but a jury found him guilty of the charge this afternoon.

Baby Hunter was taken to hospital with injuries on November 30, 2018, and later died on December 3, 2018.

The judge, Mrs Justice Lambert, told Mathias that a custodial sentence was ‘inevitable’ and remanded him into custody until Thursday (February 2), when he will be sentenced.

"Mr Mathias, you have been found guilty of murder. A custodial sentence is inevitable, as I’m sure you know. For that reason, you are remanded into custody. You will be produced for the sentencing,” Mrs Justice Lambert said.

Jurors also returned a not guilty verdict on the second charge faced by Mathias, of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.

The trial at Sheffield Crown Court began almost four months ago, and the jury spent 27 hours, 29 minutes deliberating before reaching their verdicts on Monday, January 30.

Robert Smith KC, prosecuting, told the jury that Hunter Mathias was just over two-months-old when he died at Sheffield Children’s Hospital from a severe brain injury.

A post-mortem examination revealed bruising to Hunter’s scalp was consistent with an impact injury to the head, Mr Smith said, and scans revealed three lower limb fractures, including one which was believed to have happened around the time of the head injury with the other two occurring days earlier.

Mr Smith said it was the prosecution case that Mathias murdered his baby son, possibly after he had lost his temper while the child was crying. He also claimed experts believe these injuries were closely associated with the shaking of a child, the twisting of limbs or swinging a child by the legs.

During the course of the trial, Mathias denied murdering his baby son and he told the jury that he had tried to save Hunter after the youngster had suddenly stopped breathing during a bath.

He told the jury Hunter had previously been struggling with breathing while feeding and that he had got in the bath with his son on the evening of November 30, 2018, while his partner Becky Higginbottom was downstairs but they got out of the bath after the youngster had defecated.

As she discharged the jury, Mrs Justice Lambert said ‘thanking’ them for their ‘extraordinary work’ over the past four months was ‘not quite adequate’.

"The criminal justice system relies upon men and women like you making the sacrifices you have made for the past four months,” she said.