'A culture of cruelty'
On the first day of the trial, in early June, the jury was told how Jacob was “assaulted on a regular basis” Barton and Crouch who went on to murder him. Prosecutor Mary Prior said the couple “encouraged and applauded each other” as they “worked together” to cause Jacob Crouch’s “suffering and death” with the youngster sustaining at least 39 rib fractures in a minimum of four separate assaults.
She said Jacob endured a “culture of cruelty” and died from a “vicious assault” which saw him “kicked or stamped on with such severe force that it fractured a rib and caused a tear in his stomach and bowel”. He later contracted peritonitis – an infection of the lining of the abdominal organs – and died “in his cot, alone” on December 30 2020, with 19 visible bruises at the time of death.
Mrs Prior said: “Our case is that these two parents created an environment in which they encouraged and applauded each other in their control and punishments of this little baby. Neither of them, in this very small house where no one could be alone, could have committed these offences without the knowledge and assistance of the other.
“Neither sought medical help for Jacob at any stage for the pain and suffering caused when his bones were broken or in the few days that followed.” She said: “Neither saw anything, heard anything or said anything in a very small house where both of them played a full part in the care of this baby.
“Neither got Jacob out of what must have been a life with episodes of significant pain and suffering. Jacob was not given the care that as a baby he needed and deserved.”
As well as the visible bruises on his face and chest, Mrs Prior said that there were 15 “separate incidents of bruising” and post-mortem examinations found multiple internal bruises and bleeds, including evidence of “severe and significant blunt force trauma” to his abdomen – an injury akin to those caused by high-speed traffic collisions.
Barton met Crouch while four months pregnant with Jacob, with the pair becoming “very close, very quickly” and Crouch calling Jacob “our little boy” only a month after first contacting Barton.
Jacob was born healthy on February 17 2020, with Crouch named as his father on the birth certificate, but Mrs Prior said that he was “assaulted causing bruising on a regular basis for at least six months” from the age of just four months, and was referred to as “the devil” in one text message.
On June 2, Barton texted Crouch to say “If only you could talk to Jacob and tell him to stop his bloody moaning.”
The jury saw images of bruising to Jacob’s chest, sustained as early as July 2020, which were “consistent with forceful compression of the ribs”, Mrs Prior said. In September, Crouch said in texts that Jacob was “pushing us to our limits”.
After Barton also sent texts complaining about her son, Crouch responded saying: “You need to be more regimental with him. If he starts to cry because he has hurt himself then that’s fine, comfort him. If he starts crying for no reason then smack his hand and straight to bed until settled.
“You need to be harder on him with this and not let this take over us. This will only get worse if not addressed now. Whether we like it or not if this continues our frustration and emotions will build and we will change towards one another.”
https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMiXGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmRlcmJ5dGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvLnVrL25ld3MvbG9jYWwtbmV3cy9qYWNvYi1jcm91Y2gtbXVyZGVyLWxpdmUtc2VudGVuY2luZy04NjUzMjk40gEA?oc=5
2023-08-04 13:21:00Z
CBMiXGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmRlcmJ5dGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvLnVrL25ld3MvbG9jYWwtbmV3cy9qYWNvYi1jcm91Y2gtbXVyZGVyLWxpdmUtc2VudGVuY2luZy04NjUzMjk40gEA
