A 58-year-old man who admitted vigorously shaking his infant grandson who subsequently died in hospital of head and neck trauma four years ago, has been remanded in custody for sentencing next week.
Chang Teng Wang of Melville Rise, Finglas, Dublin 11 pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Sean Wang at the apartment in August 2019 but said he had been trying to comfort and calm the baby while minding him.
Gardaí were called in after doctors and consultant paediatricians became concerned about the extent of the baby's injuries.
The court was also told that baby Sean's parents rang gardaí and claimed some of the injuries could have been caused by them driving fast while rushing the infant to the hospital, but this was discounted by subsequent garda tests.
The Director of Public Prosecution has deemed the offence to be at the mid range but Wang’s defence counsel submitted it should be considered at the lower end for sentencing.
Senior Counsel Paul Greene told the judge that Wang has the support of his family, he has no previous convictions, as a foreign national with no English he will be very isolated in jail and there is a possibility that his imprisonment will be exacerbated by the nature of the offence he has admitted to.
He also said the grandfather was willing to leave the country and his son and daughter in law who live here.
The court also heard there were references in documents to the baby’s death being described as an accident, but the prosecution counsel pointed out that if it had been an accident there would be no crime.
Chang Teng Wang arrived in Ireland in 2019 entirely dependent on his son and son’s partner.
An uneducated, simple man, from a very poor background in China, he had no experience of childminding and told gardaí the baby was difficult to mind and he would prefer to be working.
"It was extremely hard for me," he said. "I sometimes wanted to cry with the baby."
He had been minding his grandson for long periods, up to 15 hours a day, for 15 days and admitted vigorously shaking the infant and throwing it up in the air to calm and comfort it.
"I didn’t do anything to the baby, I didn’t hit him," he said. "I put him on the mattress to comfort him but I didn’t hit him."
The infant’s parents brought the baby to Temple Street hospital on 13 August 2019 where he was pronounced dead 66 hours later.
Gardaí were called in after a number of specialists, doctors and consultant paediatricians expressed concerns about the extent of the baby’s injuries and the fact they did not concur with what they were being told.
Different accounts
Sergeant Siobhan Tolan previously told the court that a number of different accounts were given for baby Sean's injuries, including that he had hit his head off a door, had fallen on to the floor and sometimes landed on his head on a mattress while being thrown in the air.
The court was also told that the baby’s parents contacted gardaí and said that baby Sean was in their arms while they were driving him to hospital and the journey was so rapid there may have been occasions where he hit his head off the roof.
Gardaí carried out a test whereby they reconstructed the journey and drove in "a furious fashion" to the hospital so see if this had caused the death of the child but at no stage was it noted that acceleration could have caused the child’s injuries.
Judge Martina Baxter said she will impose a sentence next week.
