Couple ‘made baby eat own vomit’ and ‘encouraged’ tot’s ‘suffering and death’, court told

A couple are accused of making a 10-month-old baby eat his own vomit and assaulting him “on a regular basis” before his murder, a court has heard.

Gemma Barton and Craig Crouch “encouraged and applauded each other” as they “worked together” to cause Jacob Crouch’s “suffering and death”.

The tot suffered at least 39 rib fractures in a minimum of four separate assaults, a prosecutor told the jury at Derby Crown Court.

May Prior KC said Jacob endured a “culture of cruelty” at the hands of his mother and stepfather 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”.

Jack later contracted peritonitis – an infection of the lining of the abdominal organs – and died “in his cot, alone” on December 30 2020 at his home in Foxley Chase, Linton, near Swadlincote in Derbyshire, with 19 visible bruises at the time of death.

Mrs Prior told the court: “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 added: “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.”

In addition to the visible bruises on Jacob’s face and chest, Mrs Prior said there were 15 “separate incidents of bruising”. 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 car crashes.

Ms Barton began to sob in the dock and some relatives in the public gallery left the court in tears while the Crown opened its case.

The court was told that Ms Barton, 32, met Mr Crouch, 39, while she was four months pregnant with Jacob. The couple became “very close, very quickly”, with Mr Crouch referring to Jacob as “our little boy” just a month after first contacting the 32-year-old.

Jacob was born healthy on 17 February 2020 and Mr Crouch was named as his father on the birth certificate. But Mrs Prior told the court that Jacob was assaulted on a regular basis, leading to bruising, for at least six months from the age of four-months-old, and was referred to as “the devil” in one text message.

On 2 June, Ms Barton sent a text to Mr Crouch which said: “If only you could talk to Jacob and tell him to stop his bloody moaning …”. In the same month, Mr Crouch asked Ms Barton whether she had “put back what Jacob threw back down him” – referring to vomit – with the 32-year-old confirming she had.

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, Mr Crouch said in texts that Jacob was “pushing us to our limits” and that he was “starting to get really pissed off with him”.

The court then heard that Ms Barton also sent texts referring to her son as a “little s**t, to which Mr Crouch responded: “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.”

Other text messages showed how Mr Crouch threatened to leave Ms Barton if Jacob’s behaviour did not improve, and revealed how the couple would put the tot in bed or smack him for “crying for now reason”.

In September, Ms Barton sent a message saying she was bathing Jacob, to which Mr Crouch replied: “3 foot deep, just hot water and some bleach xxxx”. He later referred to the comment as “banter” in a police interview.

Paramedics were called on 30 December and Jacob was found dead in his bed. It is believed he had been dead for much longer than the couple claimed.

The pair were arrested on 5 January 2021 and both claimed to be unaware of any non-accidental injury. They have also never given an explanation as to how Jacob’s injuries occurred.

Mrs Prior said: “When the fractures were raised, Crouch said that he had not noticed a change in Jacob. He never cried. He was never in discomfort. He was always on the go. He said that it did not make any sense.

“Crouch could not explain the injury to the torso. The only thing that might have caused the rib fractures was planking into the toy box.

She added: “He said that he doted on Jacob. He was his boy. He said that the house was very small and you could never be on your own.

“Despite the regimental discipline and the unreasonable behavioural expectations being placed on this little boy by Barton and Crouch, Crouch suggested in interview that Jacob was the beneficiary of their love and care.

“He described it as ‘safeguarding’. The prosecution say that the bruises on Jacob’s body, the broken ribs and the manner of his death fly in the face of such an assessment.”

In a police interview, Ms Barton said Mr Crouch would call her names such as “fat” and that he controlled her finances.

Despite being bailed with conditions not to contact each other, the court heard the couple were soon living together because Ms Barton was Mr Crouch’s “rock”, while Mr Crouch was Ms Barton’s “everything”. Mrs Prior added: “What mattered to them was their love affair and their love story.”

Ms Barton, of Ray Street, Heanor, Derbyshire, and Mr Crouch, of Donisthorpe Lane, Moira, Swadlincote, both deny murder, causing or allowing the death of a child, causing a child to suffer serious physical harm and three counts of child cruelty. The ongoing trial is expected to last between six and eight weeks.