Oliver Deighton has been found guilty of the manslaughter of 5 month old baby boy Michael Smedley.

Sadly, once again we are doing an RIP Post for a beautiful innocent baby.

STOP KILLING KIDS !!! I never thought we’d have to print that phrase, surely it’s just common sense, right? Well it seems to some people it definitely is not.
A Supreme Court jury found Oliver Deighton, 27, guilty of the manslaughter of five-month-old Michael Smedley who was left in his care. The mother of Michael, Tayla Smedley, burst into tears when Deighton was found guilty of causing the death of her baby.

Outside court, Ms Smedley said Michael was a happy baby who was loved by many people.
“It’s been hell, having to re-live the day over and over again.”

The court heard that Michael died of traumatic head injuries and that he had multiple bruises on his body. The jury also heard evidence that a forensic biologist allegedly observed sperm in a sample taken from the body of the baby. In his closing address to the jury on Monday, Crown prosecutor Stephen Robson accused Deighton of lying to keep ahead of the police investigation

At this point we should note that while there was allegedly a sperm sample taken, Deighton was found not guilty of raping the boy.

Mr Robson said Deighton went back to police and gave a false account of an “accidental fall and catch” of the baby from a change table. “He knew he had to get ahead of the police investigation and come up with a version that better suited his claim of innocence,” Mr Robson said.

In his closing address to the jury, defence barrister Scott Corish said there was no blood found in the nappy and that there was no DNA evidence to link Deighton to the sperm. “There is no DNA link to Oliver Deighton or any other male for that matter ﾅ” Mr Corish said.

The court previously heard that when Ms Smedley was a teenager she left baby Michael in the care of her friend Tamara Cole who was in a relationship with Deighton at the time. When Ms Cole came back home from work she found Deighton with the “limp” baby who later died in the Alice Springs Hospital.

“These fatal head injuries occurred while baby Michael was under accused’s exclusive care,” Mr Robson said. Doctors, scientists, police, and relatives of both the accused and the victim gave evidence during the trial.

Ms Smedley gave evidence in the first week of the trial and said she arrived at the house and saw, “Tamara doing CPR on what basically looked like a rag doll.” Deighton was remanded in custody and he will be sentenced in September by Justice Peter Barr.

We at FACAA hope that Justice Barr sends a loud and clear message that the manslaughter of children is not welcome in the Northern Territory, by laying down a record sentence ! Anything less will be an insult to the memory of little 5 month old Michael Smedley and his loved ones !

Fly high with your angels Michael, just 5 months old and had his whole life ahead of him. Not anymore, thanks to Deighton, but here’s to hoping he serves life, without ever having the possibility of parole !