'I tried to save my baby's life,' dad tells court (From Thisisdorset)

'I tried to save my baby's life,' dad tells court

7:00am Friday 4th December 2009 in News By James Morton

THE Wimborne father accused of killing his 10-week-old baby yesterday sobbed as he told a court of his frantic attempts to save his son’s life.

Craig Tattum, who denies the manslaughter of Ethan, took to the witness box for the first time at Winchester Crown Court.

He described how, on the night of his son’s death at the family flat in Gordon Road in July last year, he had tried to revive him with basic resuscitation.

In his attempts Tattum, 35, admitted he may have caused marks to Ethan’s face, which later showed up as bruising.

“I tapped his cheeks to try and get a reaction,” Tattum told the jury.

“I pinched his nose and tried to open his mouth, and lifted an eyelid to look in his eye.

“I felt scared and helpless.”

Tattum told the court he left the baby asleep on the sofa as he went to prepare a feeding bottle.

When he returned, Tattum said he noticed a reddish blob “like spaghetti” on Ethan’s nose.

He told the jury he picked up his son and cradled him, but when he heard Ethan stop making sighing noises he looked at his face again and it was smeared with blood.

“His arms just flopped back and there was no sign of anything from him,” said Tattum.

Tattum described how en route to hospital he was angered by paramedics laughing as they went over a bump in the road, causing them to jerk as they treated Ethan.

He admitted to making his “presence felt” in hospital and accusing one member of the medical staff of being “clumsy” and possibly causing marks to Ethan.

Tattum, an assistant sales manager with Wimborne firm Brandon Tool Hire, admitted drinking two-thirds of a bottle of vodka on the night his son died.

But at 29 stone at the time, he insisted it was not a huge amount to him and he merely felt “relaxed and calm” rather than drunk.

Tattum also described himself as a doting father to his daughter with his wife Louise, his daughter from a previous relationship and his stepson.

Louise’s pregnancy with Ethan had been turbulent, Tattum told the court.

Twice the couple were told they had lost the baby and he had to be born by emergency Caesarean seven weeks early, leading to health problems in his first few weeks, the hearing was told.

The trial continues.