Family gasps as dad found not guilty of shaking 2-week-old daughter to death
A dad accused of shaking his baby daughter to death has been found not guilty by a jury.
Darin Harvey, 26, had denied the murder of two-week-old Felicity-May Harvey at the home he shared with his fiancée and the baby's mum in Heywood, Greater Manchester.
During the two-week trial, prosecutors alleged that the infant had suffered "catastrophic" injuries after being shaken with an "abusive level of force".
Following days of deliberations, a jury at Bolton Crown Court found Mr Harvey not guilty of murder, nor of manslaughter.
The prosecution, led by Tim Storrie KC, previously told the court that initial accounts given by Mr Harvey to police were "inconsistent" with what he said to the jury at the trial.
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Police at the scene in Heywood, Greater Manchester (MEN MEDIA)He was alleged to have shaken his daughter after going to feed her, while his fiancée, Heather Connolly, had left the property, reports Manchester Evening News.
But Mr Harvey denied this throughout, saying he was in the toilet and then went to the bedroom to pick up Felicity-May, who was born with a cleft lip and palette, with "no concerns".
However, he then noticed that she was "blue" with her eyes rolling in her head.
He then phoned Ms Connolly, who was "luckily" outside the house at the time, before calling the emergency services and rushing the baby to Royal Manchester Children's Hospital.
Felicity-May sadly died three days later, on January 11, 2021.
Giving evidence, Mr Harvey said it was the "God’s honest truth" that he did not kill his daughter.
Mr Harvey denied shaking his two-week-old daughter (MEN MEDIA)Defending, James Mulholland KC, asked him questions about the events of January 8, with Mr Harvey saying “the world stopped at that moment" he realised something was wrong with Felicity-May.
Mr Harvey added: "I wanted to help police and tell them everything I could. They wouldn't accept anything I was saying. I was scared and petrified, I was being bombarded with questions... the pressure was immense, I had no choice but to give them answers.
"The pressure and the way they were making me feel I was just talking and talking and just spoke when I didn't know an answer, I wasn't lying, I just didn’t remember."
Mr Mulholland asked the defendant if he shook Felicity-May, to which he said: "Hand on my heart, no."
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During cross-examination, Mr Harvey told the jury: "I didn't shake her, I will say that until I've gone blue, I will put that on my gravestone. They (police) took advantage of a broken man.
Darin Harvey, 26, had denied murdering his baby daughter during the two-week trial (MEN Media)"I'm telling you I did not shake her. I don't know how many times I have to say this.
"All I could think about was my baby... my heart was ripped into pieces, which the police couldn't care less about in those interviews.
"I was not trying to con the police at all, I wanted to help but they were practically torturing me."
Mr Harvey went on to accuse the baby’s mother, Ms Connolly, of causing Felicity the fatal injuries.
He said: "She knew what she had done. She knew she fed her, she told two people she had fed her and something [has] gone wrong... she panicked and shook her. There's no other explanation - that's what happened."
After almost a week of deliberations, the jury was given directions by judge Robert Bright KC that they could make a majority verdict, returning a few hours later.
Gasps of relief could be heard from the public gallery as the not guilty verdict was delivered.
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