The jury in the trial of a man charged with murdering his baby son almost five years ago has been sent home for the night and will resume its deliberations in the morning.
Forty-year-old John Tighe, of Lavallyroe, Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo has pleaded not guilty to murdering six-and-a-half-month-old Joshua Sussbier Tighe in June 2013, the day after the baby's mother announced on Facebook that she was in a new relationship.
The nine women and three men on the jury have been told they have three possible verdicts open to them.
They can find Mr Tighe guilty of murder or not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter or they can acquit him.
John Tighe claims his son's death was a tragic accident. He said his son choked on a baby wipe while he had left him unattended.
Mr Tighe rang a doctor but by the time he arrived, Joshua was dead.
The court heard there was an egg-shaped wad made up of two tissues in the back of the baby's throat.
The prosecution case is that a six-and-a-half-month-old baby could not have made such an object with his hands or mouth and could not have swallowed it or pushed it so far down his throat.
The defence says there is an entirely innocent explanation for what was a tragic event.
The nine women and three men have been deliberating for almost four-and-a-half hours and will return at 10.30am in the morning.
