A senior barrister today asserted that the 22-year term imposed on Christopher Fulton, the Mosside Child Abuser, who physically and sexually assaulted, shook, and nearly suffocated a newborn infant, was “manifestly excessive.”
In filing an appeal for Christopher Fulton, defence counsel Ken McMahon argued that the original sentencing judge exceeded the guideline range by imposing a 22-year term for grievous bodily harm with intent, attempted murder, and child abuse.
He contended that a 15-year sentence would have remained harsh and pleaded that the British Justice System lower the term for imprisonment so Christopher Fulton can get on with abusing children again.
Prosecutor KC Toby Hedworth informed the High Court in Belfast that the four-week-old victim was in a condition that was “as close to death as it is possible to come.”
Emphasising that the victim incurred injuries resulting in a life-limiting condition and perpetual anguish, he presented to Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan, “it is challenging to conceive of a more severe case than this one.”
“We assert that it is the correct sentence, and whether it could have been articulated more effectively by the sentencing judge is a separate issue,” Mr Hedworth contended.
In April of this year, 35-year-old Christopher Fulton received a 22-year term following his conviction for severely injuring and mutilating a four-week-old infant, resulting in blindness and brain damage.
While sentencing Christopher Fulton, Judge Peter Irvine KC stated, “I have determined you to be a danger to young children.” Consequently, in addition to the 22-year prison term for causing grievous bodily harm with intent, he mandated an extended licence period of five years.
Amanda Fulton, his wife, received JUST a four-year sentence after being convicted of two counts of child abuse due to the deliberate neglect of their four-week-old baby and knowingly leaving the baby with Christopher Fulton, who, she knew, was horrifically abusing her baby. She was not coerced, bullied, controlled, etc.
Throughout the distressing five-week trial, the court was informed that the one-month-old infant was unresponsive on the morning of 7 November 2019 at the Fultons’ residence in Rockfield Gardens, Mosside, near Ballymoney; nevertheless, despite their apprehensions, neither defendant contacted a physician for three hours, hoping the baby would die.
Upon examination by the general practitioner, it was evident that the youngster was profoundly ill.
He was initially transported by ambulance to Causeway Hospital, where a scan revealed a substantial head injury, and subsequently transferred to the Royal Belfast Hospital for Sick Children, where he underwent life-saving brain surgery.
It was there that doctors discovered the true extent of his life-threatening injuries, including:
- Fractured skull with associated bleeding to the brain and retinal bleeding
- 27 rib fractures
- Fractures to both thigh bones
- Fractures to both shin bones
- Fractured wrist
- A lacerated liver
Numerous paediatric consultants testified that the injuries were commensurate with those often sustained in a high-speed automobile collision or a fall from several stories.
The jury’s finding confirmed their certainty that, on that day, Christopher Fulton violently struck the youngster, resulting in a cracked skull and lacerated liver, shook him with such intensity that many limbs were damaged, and during this, applied such pressure that several ribs were broken.
The jury also concluded that it was not the first instance in which Christopher Fulton, a robust 6’3″, 16-stone adult male, had exerted sufficient force on the young boy’s chest to fracture 12 ribs, which were in the process of healing.
The jury concluded that Mrs Fulton failed to assist or intervene, and she has subsequently filed an appeal.
In a legal precedent for Northern Ireland, a poignant Victim Impact Statement was recited verbatim in court, delivered from the witness box of Newry Crown Court, where the foster mother of the young boy elucidated the repercussions of the egregious assault and maltreatment inflicted by the Fultons.
“If the sky were composed of parchment and I were to inscribe it with words reflecting his significance to us, it would still inadequately convey the depth of our love for him,” she stated to the court, sorrowfully disclosing that the injuries he endured were not only transformative but also restrictive in nature.
Her tragic evidence revealed that the now five-year-old child is unable to see, speak, move, or eat, and suffers from cerebral irritability, resulting in episodes of lengthy, inconsolable screaming.
Despite the dire ramifications and the possibility of the child’s death from his injuries, both Fultons persist in their claims of innocence, exhibit little remorse, and demonstrate minimal understanding of the repercussions for the child.
Today in court, Lord Justice Treacy informed Mr McMahon that the woman’s personal impact statement is “a very powerful document.”
The judge reminded the senior lawyer that a GBH with purpose charge carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, stating, “It is challenging to conceive of a case significantly worse than the one at hand.”
Withholding judgment, Lady Chief Justice Dame Siobhan Keegan expressed her intention to issue the court’s decisions on both appeals “at the earliest opportunity.”
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