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  "path": "/2026/06/12/man-shook-newborn-son-death-first-night-partner-parents-28752096/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-06-12T15:11:34.000Z",
  "site": "https://metro.co.uk",
  "tags": [
    "News",
    "UK",
    "Crime News",
    "Somerset",
    "Bristol",
    "News Updates",
    "Breaking News",
    "Devon",
    "check our news page",
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  "textContent": "Tony Bartlett denies murder and manslaughter relating to the death of Atticus Bartlett and is on trial at Bristol Crown Court (Picture: Getty)\n\n**A postman murdered his four-week-old son by violently shaking him after being asked to watch the newborn for ‘a few moments’ while his partner went to get changed, a court heard.**\n\nTony Bartlett, 39, had nine pints before attacking little Atticus Bartlett at the family home in Chard, Somerset, late on July 16, 2022, jurors were told.\n\nHe had not long arrived home with partner Evelyn Ballentyne from their first night out since their son’s birth, Bristol Crown Court heard.\n\nCharles Row KC, prosecuting, said Bartlett ‘was left to look after and feed Atticus for just a few moments while Evelyn went upstairs to change and get ready for bed’.\n\n‘In those few moments, Tony Bartlett violently shook his child so hard that he caused severe internal injuries to Atticus’s brain and he damaged his spinal cord,’ the prosecutor said.\n\n##  Sign up for all of the latest stories\n\nStart your day informed with Metro's **News Updates** newsletter or get **Breaking News** alerts the moment it happens.\n\n‘In doing so, he must have squeezed his child so hard that he cracked several ribs.’\n\nMr Row described how Ms Ballentyne came downstairs to hear her baby’s ‘last gasps’.\n\n‘At that point, Atticus was lifeless, face down and across his father’s knees,’ Mr Row said.\n\nThe court heard neighbours and paramedics attended the property, with Atticus taken to hospital by ambulance.\n\n‘The damage to Atticus’ brain was so severe that nothing could be done,’ Mr Row told the jury.\n\n‘He never managed to breathe for himself again and he never regained consciousness.\n\n‘Tragically, he died just before midnight on July 23, 2022.’\n\nMr Row told the jury that ‘something’ that night had caused Bartlett to become ‘frustrated’ with his young son.\n\nHe said the baby was a ‘difficult and messy feeder’ with a tendency to spit out his milk.\n\nThat evening, Atticus had been ‘grizzly and crying’ on and off.\n\nMr Row said: ‘Whatever happened, Tony Bartlett could not and did not tolerate it.\n\n‘It is the Crown’s case that, in that moment, Tony Bartlett shook Atticus so hard that he must have intended to cause him really serious bodily harm.\n\n‘If you shake a four-week-old baby with so much force that you break ribs and destroy his brain, what other intention is there?’\n\nThe court heard that on the night of July 16, Ms Ballentyne’s mother and her partner had come to babysit Atticus so his parents could go out.\n\nThey arrived at the family home at about 6pm, with Bartlett and Ms Ballentyne then heading to The Cerdic pub for food and drinks.\n\nThe couple then attended a comedy night at Chard Guildhall, returning to their home at about 10.45pm.\n\nTony Bartlett, 39, had nine pints before attacking little Atticus Bartlett at the family home in Chard, Somerset, jurors heard (Picture: Google Maps)\n\nAfter Ms Ballentyne’s mother and her partner left, Ms Ballentyne went upstairs to get changed.\n\n‘When Ms Ballentyne came back into the living room, she saw Atticus lying face down on Mr Bartlett’s lap,’ Mr Row said.\n\n‘Mr Bartlett’s eyes were closed. She could tell something was seriously wrong.\n\n‘As she walked in, Atticus made a couple of strange gasping sounds. She immediately shouted “he’s dead”.’\n\nBartlett, who was working as a postman at the time, allegedly moved Atticus onto his back – with the baby ‘floppy and lifeless’.\n\nMr Row said it was unclear whether Ms Ballentyne had taken Atticus and tried to revive him with ‘gentle shaking’.\n\nThe possibility this could have caused his fatal injuries has been ‘considered carefully by experts and ruled out’, he added.\n\nParamedics arrived at the family home at 11.29pm, with Atticus taken to Musgrove Park Hospital by ambulance, arriving there at 12.16am.\n\nHe was transferred to Bristol Royal Hospital for Children at 5am on July 17.\n\nHe died there on July 23.\n\nIn police interviews, Bartlett said he had been feeding Atticus when the baby started coughing and choking.\n\nThe postman told officers he was rubbing and patting his son before he ‘decided to put him on my knee and shake him a little bit on my knee’.\n\nHowever, he now says this is not the case and any non-accidental injury must have been caused by Ms Ballentyne, Mr Row told jurors.\n\n‘It is his case that he bears no responsibility for Atticus’ death whatsoever,’ he added.\n\nBartlett, of Axminster, Devon, denies the two charges against him and the trial continues.\n\n******Get in touch with our news team by emailing us atwebnews@metro.co.uk.******\n\n**For more stories like this,** check our news page.\n\n\nAdd Metro as a Preferred Source on Google\nAdd as preferred source\n",
  "title": "Postman ‘shook four-week-old son to death after first night out with partner as parents’"
}