A man who shook his crying baby to death out of frustration was today jailed for nine years and 11 months.
The new father, Peter Sayle, violently shook his six-week-old child because he was frustrated at the baby's crying and was having difficulty bonding with him, a court heard.
The baby was found to have bleeding in the brain as well as two rib fractures from his father's shaking.
Sayle, 32, pleaded guilty to an alternative count of manslaughter five days into his murder trial at Preston Crown Court.
He denied he was responsible for causing any harm to his son for more than three-and-a-half years.
Six-week-old Huxley was rushed to hospital in the early hours of June 2022 after his mother, Livinia Sharples, called 999 and told the operator her son was not breathing at their home in Fulwood, Preston.
Sayle had earlier said that he had taken the youngster downstairs in an attempt to feed and settle him.
He then claimed that his son made a gurgling noise followed by a gasp of air and then stopped breathing.
Peter Sayle (pictured), 32, was jailed for nine years and 11 months for killing his six-week-old son Huxley Sayle at his family home in Preston in June 2022
Mr Justice Bryan said: 'I am satisfied, so that I am sure, that the reality was rather different, and that whilst you were downstairs with Huxley, you violently shook him as your frustration and anger at his crying, and your inability to settle him, boiled over.
'So how did it come to pass that you came to inflict such horrific and catastrophic injuries upon Huxley?
'The answer is revealed from searches recovered by the police on your mobile phone which you made before Huxley's collapse, and which you accepted were carried out by you.
'These revealed that you had difficulties bonding with your baby and his crying made you frustrated, especially at night, with such entries including "Am I being too rough with my newborn", "I get frustrated with my baby at night", "my girlfriend keeps telling me I'm doing everything wrong with my baby" and "new father frustration".
'Such frustration boiled over to anger on the night of 14 June 2022 when, whilst in sole charge of Huxley in the living room of your home, you shook him forcefully, causing the significant numbers of very serious injuries from which Huxley could not, and did not, recover.'
A CT scan taken at Royal Preston Hospital revealed bleeding in different parts of Huxley's brain which raised suspicions that he was shaken.
The injuries would have resulted in immediate symptoms, a review of the scan indicated.
He was transferred to the intensive care unit at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital but Huxley never regained consciousness. His treatment was withdrawn a month later on July 14 2022, the court heard.
Peter Sayle, 32, was sentenced today at Preston Crown Court (pictured) for the manslaughter of his son Huxley who died aged six weeks old in June 2022
A post-mortem examination ruled that Huxley's death was caused by a 'traumatic head injury'.
The pathologist thought the baby was forcefully gripped or squeezed around the chest as he was being violently shaken.
The judge said, on the weight of expert evidence, that the shaking led to Huxley suffering two rib fractures, rather than the CPR performed on the baby.
Two weeks after Huxley's birth, a health visitor went to the family's house and reinforced the dangers of shaking a baby, the court heard.
Sayle provided no account for how the injuries were caused but his guilty plea to manslaughter was accepted by the Crown Prosecution Service. He denied murder.
The judge told Sayle: 'You knew long ago that Huxley had suffered a catastrophic brain injury, and that his brain in consequence had been starved of oxygen and had slowly died. That was then confirmed by the post-mortem only to be corroborated by subsequent prosecution experts.
'You knew the risks of shaking a baby. You knew that you were the only one that could have shaken Huxley before his immediate collapse, and you knew that you did shake Huxley.
'You could have faced up to your guilt and indicated a plea to manslaughter even at the first appearance or at the plea and trial preparation hearing.'
He was transferred to the intensive care unit at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital but Huxley never regained consciousness
Anne Whyte KC, prosecuting, told the court that Huxley's mother Ms Sharples married Sayle while they were both on bail during the investigation into their son's death.
Ms Whyte said: 'Neither he, she or their families have supported this prosecution.
'They are the closest in terms of family to Huxley.
'Highly unusually, and tragically, there are no victim personal statements reflecting the impact of Huxley's death on anyone.'
She said that Sayle had 'persistently denied doing anything at all whether or not it caused any injuries'.
She added that Sayle had at no point tried to explain his actions despite pleading guilty.
'It is very difficult in those circumstances to accept any evidence or demonstration of remorse, let alone significant remorse,' she said.
Mark Rhind KC, defending, told the court: 'He is remorseful. The plea of guilt is an indication of remorse.
'He has pleaded guilty to the unlawful killing of his own son. That is not a nebulous thing. It is an admission.
'He has not claimed there has been some sort of accident or some rough handling.
'He accepts his actions on June 14 2022 amounted to an unlawful assault and it is implicit that assault must have been with some force to have caused injuries to Huxley.
'Peter Sayle is utterly devastated by the loss of his son and the fact he has admitted responsibility for it.
'Whatever happened must have happened in a moment of frustration, exasperation and in tiredness.'
After sentencing, Deputy chief inspector Andy Fallows of Lancashire Constabulary's major force investigation team said: 'Whilst we will never truly know what caused Sayle to do what he did, we do know what he chose to do after.'
'Rather than admit to what he had done and show remorse for his actions, Peter Sayle sought to spin a web of lies and blame anyone but himself for baby Huxley's death.'