Dad jailed for life for murder of infant son seeks to overturn conviction

A man serving a mandatory life sentence for the murder of his infant son has appealed his conviction at the Court of Appeal, challenging the admissibility of postmortem evidence presented during his trial. John Tighe of Lavallyroe, Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo was convicted in March 2018 of murdering his six-and-a-half-month-old son in June 2013. The defence argues the trial judge erred in admitting extracts from a postmortem report prepared by the former Deputy State Pathologist, who was unavailable to attend trial and be cross-examined. Instead, evidence was presented through an alternative pathologist via video link. The defence contends this breached fair trial principles by preventing meaningful challenge to the original findings. The State's counsel argued the subsequent expert was called based on independent medical recommendations and provided his own assessment of the evidence. The three-judge court reserved judgment.