A man convicted of trying to kill his former partner’s 15-month old baby has had his 14-year jail term reduced to 10 years on appeal.

Akande Rotimi Williams, a 29-year-old Nigerian residing in Malta, had been accused of attempted willful homicide, grievous bodily harm and ill-treatment of the child entrusted to his care. The baby was found stiff and unresponsive in its cot.

The case dated back to April 2013 when the baby boy had been rushed to hospital, arousing the suspicion of doctors who said that the child had already been admitted to hospital some two weeks earlier with symptoms suggesting 'shaken baby syndrome’, a medical condition indicative of abusive brain trauma.

Criminal action was taken against Mr Williams for leading to a trial by jury which ended in July 2017 with an 8-1 guilty verdict on both counts.

The accused was condemned to a 14-year jail term and had filed an appeal.

The Court of Criminal Appeal observed that medical research over the past decade had led a growing movement of doctors to question the causes which could lead to a diagnosis of the “shaken baby syndrome”, since accidents and certain diseases could result in “identical conditions”.

All doctors testifying in the case had been asked to confirm whether the child’s injuries could have been triggered by some underlying medical condition.

Unfortunately, the only court-appointed medical-legal expert who could express an opinion “although highly qualified in the field of forensic medicine, lacked a specialisation both in neurology, in ophthalmology and in paediatric medicine,” the court said.

Once his testimony had not been supported by that of other medical specialists, his conclusions could not be deemed “completely watertight” even since the prosecution had put forward “no other circumstantial evidence”.

For this reason, the court, presided over by Chief Justice Joseph Azzopardi, Mr Justice Joseph Zammit Mckeon and Madam Justice Edwina Grima concluded that the jury’s verdict had been “unsafe and highly unsatisfactory,” since the intent to kill had not been proven beyond reasonable doubt.

However, the medico-legal evidence, the non-accidental nature of the injuries as well as scratch marks, bruises and fractured ribs on the child, did prove that force had been inflicted upon the child.

For this reason the court upheld the jury’s verdict in so far as it had found the accused guilty of grievous bodily harm, observing that Mr Williams had been “the sole carer at the time of both incidents,” but reduced his jail term to 10 years and confirmed the €1,644 fine payable within 15 days.

Lawyers Franco Debono and Amadeus Cachia assisted the accused at the appeal stage.