Father who dropped baby gets eight years

A Romanian father was sentenced to eight years behind bars in the death of his baby boy, who died of head trauma days after he was dropped in 2018.

The Criminal Court in Paphos handed down the sentence to the 29-year-old man, who was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of his 3-month-old son back in February 2018 in Timi village, Paphos district.

According to facts heard in court, the father initially told police the baby fell from the sofa but later admitted that he dropped the baby accidently as he was holding it while coming down a metal spiral staircase in the home. He eventually told investigators that he was afraid he might lose custody of his other children.

The man’s wife and mother of the child, also a 29-year-old Romanian national, reportedly told police last year that she had video showing her son was alive and well after the fall. The woman also said her boy acted normally with his two siblings and woke up at mornal feeding times.

But the couple was also facing charges of denial of medical care, with prosecutors initially charging both the mother and the father for failing to take the baby to hospital promptly. The denial of medical care charge was later dropped, after the prosecution argued that the condition of the baby was irreversible.

Prosecutors later dropped all charges against the mother, including negligent manslaughter, while her husband was found guilty beyond reasonable doubt of homicide, involuntary manslaughter, and reckless endangerment.

Last week, during a mitigation hearing, the court heard that the father has been living in Cyprus for 12 years. He was also said to have had a clean criminal background and lack of any malicious intent. 

But previous media reports said investigators had obtained a statement from the mother saying her husband had been violent at times.

Greek Cypriot and London-based pathologist Andreas Marnerides, who was called to assist in other cases including the serial killer case, also assisted in the autopsy of the baby boy in this case.