Accused of murder, ‘the baby was found face down on his bedroom floor after hearing pops and squeaks’

A friend accused of murdering his partner’s little boy told police he found him lying face down on his bedroom floor after hearing a “pop and a little squeak,” according to a court heard today.

Jacob Lennon was 15 months old when he was rushed to hospital on August 26, 2019 with serious head injuries from the family home in Putney, south west London.

A post-mortem revealed injuries consistent with horrific long-term abuse. Jacob’s eyes were so swollen he couldn’t open them and he “looked like a panda” because he had dark bruises underneath, the Old Bailey has heard.

Jake Drummond, 33, denies Jacob’s murder and another charge of intentionally harming the baby in relation to previous injuries, including wounding the genitals with a sharp object.

Louise Lennon, 32, denies causing or allowing the death of a child and denies cruelty to a child.

Jacob Lennon was 15 months old when he was rushed to hospital on August 26, 2019 with serious head injuries from the family home in Putney, south west London

Jake Drummond, 33, denies Jacob’s murder and another charge of intentionally harming the baby in relation to previous injuries, including wounding the genitals with a sharp object

In his first police interview, Drummond claimed he woke up that night with “a bang and a little squeak.”

He described how he “jumped out of his skin” when he saw Jacob lying face down on his bedroom floor.

“It was my parents’ instinct, when you hear a bang and you know there’s a kid next door, you run to check on them.

“It was a creepy whining [sound]like a whiny screech, it’s the kind that would scare you like you would [wake up and] think ‘oh that doesn’t sound right’.

“That’s when I started to see his lips turning blue and that’s when I put my hands down his throat to make sure he didn’t swallow his tongue.

“There was a lot of nausea coming out of his nose, I just rolled him on his side.

“I put my hand in his mouth to make sure his airway was clear… I was sick, but I had to do my best to save him… I couldn’t just sit there.

When asked when an ambulance was called, Drummond told police: “An ambulance had already been called when I saw his lips turning blue.

‘I said [to Lennon] Now call an ambulance, he’s having trouble breathing, he’s not breathing, call an ambulance now.

“The dispatcher put me through CPR, he told me to lay him flat on his back, tilt his head back and do 30 compressions on his chest.

“I think I might have messed it up a bit but that’s because I was in shock but I did my best.

Drummond told police the ten minutes he gave Jacob CPR “felt like a lifetime.”

Louise Lennon, 32, denies causing or allowing the death of a child and denies cruelty to a child

He said: “When the ambulance crew showed up I had my hands on his mouth clearing his airway.

“Just as I was doing that, the ambulance crew walked through the door and I was like, ‘brilliant,'” Drummond told officers.

Father-of-two Drummond told officers he then left to comfort his partner.

“I had to reassure myself because the last thing the mum needed was someone else in a state, I had to make sure she was okay and that everything would be okay.

“I would never hurt a child… anyone who hurts a child, I find them disgusting…. I would never hurt a child, almost never.”

Drummond, who has no fixed address, denies Jacob’s murder and another charge of intentionally harming the baby in relation to previous injuries, which include wounding the genitals with a sharp object.

Lennon, of Ingrave Street, Wandsworth, denies causing or allowing the death of a child, and any cruelty to a child.

The process goes on.

Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk