A 'highly dangerous' man who subjected a toddler to a 'sickening and repeated assault' has been found guilty of attempted murder of the boy. Lewis Prince, 29, punched, strangled and smothered the victim, then two, at a home last December.
Police said he left the little lad with extensive facial bruising after slapping and punching him while capturing it on video. They heard of the attacks when they were called to an address in Blackpool at 8.17am on December 7 last year following reports a toddler had been assaulted.
When they attended with paramedics, the young boy was rushed to hospital with several injuries including extensive bruising to his face and throat. Prince fled the scene before officers arrived, but he was later arrested in a vehicle whilst travelling towards Manchester.
He was then interviewed by detectives and denied any wrongdoing. During his trial at Preston Crown Court, expert medical evidence from the prosecution indicated that the toddler’s injuries were consistent with strangulation.
They also told jurors that the victim’s wounds showed he had been in the penultimate stage of asphyxia. Prince accepted he lied in his police interview, saying he had in fact slapped the toddler to the face and squeezed his cheeks in an attempt to stop him from crying.
He also pleaded guilty to an assault by beating charge in relation to a woman, but denied attempted murder, saying he neither strangled nor smothered the victim. However, the jury saw through his lies and took around an hour to find the defendant, from Swinton, Greater Manchester, unanimously guilty.
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Following the verdict, DS Isobel Garratt, of Lancashire Police, said: “The defendant, Lewis Prince, has demonstrated he is a highly dangerous individual. He has, from his arrest through to his trial, failed at every opportunity to understand and take responsibility for the grievous and abhorrent harm which he caused a vulnerable baby in distress.
“Fortunately, the jury were more than capable of seeing through his lies, and have recognised that when a 29-year-old man strangles and smothers a vulnerable toddler, there is only one thing that he intends. This has been an emotive case for everyone involved, where the evidence gathered has been of a harrowing nature.
"I would commend the jury for their professionalism throughout the trial. Furthermore, I would like to thank the victim’s mother for her assistance throughout the investigation.
"She has been incredibly brave when faced with tremendously difficult circumstances. Fortunately, the toddler has made a full recovery. However, this does not take away from the grave danger in which Lewis Prince placed a vulnerable child.”
Prince will be sentenced at Preston Crown Court on August 4.
