AN Irishman has been found guilty of murdering his infant son by a unanimous jury verdict in Dublin.
John Tighe, 40, of Lavallyroe, Ballyhaunis, Co. Mayo, had pleaded not guilty to murdering six-and-a-half-month old Joshua Sussbier Tighe at his home on June 1, 2013.
The killing occurred a day after the baby's mother revealed she was in a new relationship on Facebook.
Tighe said his son's death was a tragic accident.
But the jury of nine women and three men took seven hours and 32 minutes to find him guilty of murder.
John Tighe (40) has been found guilty of murdering his infant son by a unanimous jury verdict at the Central Criminal Court pic.twitter.com/e3JoxjajMJ
— Courts News Ireland (@courtsnewsIRL) March 23, 2018
Speaking before the judgement, the Mayo native claimed he was changing his infant son's nappy on the day of the death when he went to the toilet and left the child unattended.
He told Gardaí that Joshua must have put a baby wipe in his mouth and choked on it.
Tighe rang a doctor but by the time they arrived, the baby was dead.
The court heard that an egg shaped wad of tissue was found in the back of Joshua's throat.
The jury agreed with the prosecution that a six-and-a-half-month-old baby could not have made such an object with his hands or mouth, and could not have swallowed it or pushed it so far down his throat.
Justice Patrick McCarthy will sentence Tighe later today.
