Father ‘who suffocated toddler son’ charged with murder after he died 18 years later

Prosecutors claim Alan Bird is responsible for his son’s death

Alan Bird approaching Leeds Crown Court (Matthew Lofthouse / SWNS)

A man has been charged with murdering his son 18 years after suffocating him and inflicting life-changing injuries.

Alan Bird attacked his two-year-old boy in 2001, leaving him with permanent brain damage.

Lewis Turner died in 2019 of an infection from his feeding tube.

Bird pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent over the assault.

But prosecutors say the 48-year-old is also criminally responsible for his son’s death.

Leeds Crown Court heard Lewis had developed a “myriad of conditions” including cerebral palsy in the years following the attack. His speech, sight and hearing were also impaired.

Lewis was being cared for by his adopted parents when he died in July 2019. The cause of death was given as peritonitis, a swelling of the tissue that lines the abdomen, due to an infection.

But Richard Wright QC, prosecuting, told the jury Bird had been charged with murder because there is no time limit for how long someone remains “criminally responsible”.

He told jurors: “The death of Lewis Turner was not some freak infection that took the life of a healthy boy.

“It was instead the final consequence of a deliberate assault on Lewis by Alan Bird.

“His feeding tube caused the infection to develop. [But] he only had that feeding tube as a direct consequence of the defendant attacking him.”

Bird, Lewis’ natural father, assaulted his toddler on the night of 29 September 2001 at home in the Dewsbury, West Yorkshire.

Paramedics found Lewis covered in bruises and “deathly pale”.

He was taken hospital where a scan revealed he had suffered devastating injuries after his brain was starved of oxygen.

Bird later admitted to a social worker that he was responsible.

Mr Wright said: “He said he had done so by holding a pillow over the child’s face for a few minutes.

“It is admitted in this trial, and you can proceed on the safe footing, that this defendant caused the brain injuries and that when he did so, he intended to cause really serious injury to Lewis.

“He is therefore guilty of murder, provided as you can be sure that his attack in 2001 made a more than minimal contribution to the death of Lewis.”

Mr Wright told jurors it might be suggested during the trial that Lewis’ death was a result of medical negligence.

But he said they would hear evidence from a professor of gastrointestinal surgery who found his NHS care to be “faultless” after conducting an independent investigation following Lewis’ death.

Bird has pleaded not guilty to murder.

The trial continues.