Wayne Acott is on trial at Maidstone Crown Court

by Keith Hunt

A father caused fatal injuries to his young baby after being up most of the night watching television and playing on a computer, a court heard.

Wayne Acott, from Maidstone, had also been smoking cannabis and had toothache and a headache when he caused a "catastrophic collapse" to four-month-old Mackenzie.

The child died seven days later on January 28 last year at London's King's College Hospital from brain damage.

"It is the Crown’s case that Wayne Acott that morning went too far," prosecutor Sally Howes QC told Maidstone Crown Court today.

"He had been up until 4.30 or 4.45am. He had toothache and a headache.

"He dozed off at 6.30am and was then woken up by Mackenzie crying and he was not drinking his bottle. What effect might that have? It is frequently seen as a momentary loss of control, and that is all it would have taken."

Acott, 22, of Square Hill Road, denies manslaughter.

He told police: "I did not cause any injury to my son and did not cause his death."

Miss Howes said the allegation was that the 22-year-old father unlawfully killed Mackenzie.

"i did not cause any injury to my son and did not cause his death…” – wayne acott

Acott, who worked with his father repairing cars, had been with the child’s mother Susan York, 30, since 2009. She also had a daughter, aged 10 at the time of the baby’s death.

Acott's regular cannabis use caused friction between them, the court heard. It affected his sleep pattern and he would not go to bed at a reasonable time.

Mackenzie was born prematurely at 35 weeks in September 2010, but was otherwise "a perfectly normal baby".

Miss Howes said Acott had spent the night before Mackenzie's collapse at a neighbour's flat watching television and playing on a computer.

He returned home at about 4.30am and fell asleep on the sofa in the living room at about 6.30am. Miss York left the flat at 8.45am to take her daughter to school.

Before she left she put Mackenzie in his chair and made attempts to get Acott up, but he just mumbled. When Miss York left, the baby was happy and smiling, said the QC.

When she returned about 30 minutes later, she found Acott holding his son.

The baby's head was "floppy" and he was gasping for air. He told her: "I don’t know what’s wrong."

The trial continues.