Read devastated mum’s heartbreaking victim impact statement after her ex-boyfriend was convicted of killing her baby boy because he wouldn’t stop crying

A grieving mother still suffers excruciating heartbreak every day four years after her then-partner ‘shook’ and killed their newborn son.

Ashley John McGregor, 34, will be sentenced next month after he was recently found guilty of manslaughter and criminal neglect of his three-week-son Alvin.

The District Court heard harrowing victim impact statements from Alvin’s mother, grandmother and his older brother on Wednesday, which coincided with the four year anniversary of his death.

Rebecca Denton recalled her joy of finding out she was pregnant with her second child and described the three weeks with Alvin as the best of her life.

‘You took one of the most important people away from me and I will never forgive you,’ she told McGregor.

‘I will forever have a piece of my heart missing, and nothing will replace it.

‘It’s been four years since you took him from me and the pain is still as excruciating as the day the nurses told me he was gone.’

If he was still alive, Alvin would have just turned four and be attending kindergarten.

Ashley John McGregor was found guilty of inflicting fatal injuries on his three-week-old son Alvin (pictured)

Judge Paul Muscat found McGregor (pictured) either shook or threw Alvin due to him crying

‘I will be forever left wondering what my baby boy would be like, what his voice would have sounded like, what his personality would have been like or how close he would have been to his big brother,’ Ms Denton said.

‘I will never get to hear Alvin say he loves me, see any of his important milestones.

‘I won’t even know what his hugs would feel like. All I have left of Alvin are his pictures and his ashes. 

‘Because of you I will never be able to hold my baby again and will always have a broken heart.’

Alvin’s brother said he wakes up feeling hate towards McGregor each day. 

‘The feeling that he can take my brother and still walk and breathe kills me inside,’ he said. 

‘I’m so glad he’s locked up so he can’t do anything to any other kids like what he did to Alvin.’

Bernadine Denton said that her grandson deserved so much better.

‘I will forever have a piece of my heart missing, and nothing will replace it,’ Alvin’s mother Rebecca Denton (right) said

Rebecca Denton (left) says she will never forgive her former partner (right)

‘I can’t bear to think of Alvin’s pain before he passed,’ she said.

‘We should be watching him grow, smile and feel the love of family that was so ready to surround him with care.

‘Instead, we are left with silence, grief and an emptiness that will never fully go away.’

Judge Paul Mescat ruled last month that McGregor had shaken or beaten the baby because he could not deal with his crying on April 21, 2021.

McGregor was left to look after Alvin while his partner went shopping.

Ms Denton received a panicked call that afternoon from McGregor, claiming he had accidentally knocked over the bassinet Alvin was in.

The baby was heard ‘hysterically’ crying, and Ms Denton rushed home. 

Little Alvin’s condition drastically deteriorated over the next 40 hours, and he was unresponsive by the time his parents took him to Noarlunga Hospital two days later.

A post-mortem on Alvin found blunt cerebral trauma to be the cause of his death. 

The newborn had suffered rib fractures, bruising, head injuries and haemorrhages to the retinas.

Judge Muscat was satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt McGregor had inflicted the severe injuries by tightly squeezing Alvin around the chest and either shaking or throwing him, possibly causing him to strike a hard surface.

During McGregor’s trial, the court heard an interview between him and police in which officers claimed Alvin’s injuries indicated he was ‘violently shaken’.

Alvin (pictured) suffered rib fractures, bruising, head injuries and haemorrhages to the retinas

‘It’s very similar to what you’d expect … in a high-impact car crash,’ the officer said.

McGregor claimed Alvin was injured when he knocked over the bassinet but the father decided not to take the baby to hospital because ‘he settled’.

‘Maybe we should have taken him to hospital, we should’ve been, like, more cautious,’ McGregor said.

‘I’ve got nothing to hide, I want to know what happened to him.’

The judge determined McGregor attacked the baby in the 10 minutes between calling Denton and her arriving home. 

‘I find he did so because he was unable to deal with Alvin crying for 10 minutes,’ Judge Muscat said.

‘I find this resulted in the defendant losing control of his emotions and reacting inappropriately and instantly through his frustration in not being able to settle Alvin’s crying.’

Judge Muscat added McGregor was guilty of criminal neglect as he failed to take Alvin to hospital, in spite of his obvious distress. 

‘He failed to seek timely medical care for Alvin,’ he said.

Judge Muscat previously accepted Ms Denton’s evidence that she did not inflict the horrific injuries on Alvin.

The mother last year was sentenced to four years jail after pleading guilty to criminal neglect, also for failing to get Alvin timely medical attention.

She was ordered to serve her sentence in home detention.

McGregor’s lawyer told the court on Wednesday that his client will appeal his convictions.

McGregor remains in custody ahead of sentencing submissions next month.

‘His conduct is reprehensible; there’s no doubt about that,’ Judge Muscat said.

‘Knowing what he did and just pretending that his baby would get better just doesn’t cut it.’

‘Nobody in this world would want to ever see a young baby’s life taken away from them in this way.’

***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk