David Tilici launched a horrific attack on his one-month-old son in a Liverpool hotel in the city center while his partner had briefly left the room to visit McDonald’s.
The toddler’s mother was horrified to see her son’s bloodied and bruised face during a video call, prompting her to rush back to his side. The severity of the baby’s injuries was so extreme that hotel staff feared he had died.
During a trial at Liverpool Crown Court, it was revealed that the baby was admitted to Alder Hey Children’s Hospital on December 11 last year with “significant blunt force head trauma”. This included severe bruising to the head and face and bleeding from the mouth.
Prosecutor Jamie Baxter explained that medical experts concluded the injuries were “not accidental” and resulted from “more than one impact.” He added that the “level of bruising suffered by a vulnerable infant would require significant abusive head trauma,” he said. the liverpool echo.
Despite serious and fatal injuries, the baby survived and is expected to make a full recovery.
Jurors were told that Tilici, her partner of three years, and their newborn had checked into the Campanile Hotel in Queens Dock at around 6.30pm that day during a trip to the city. Hotel staff said the baby “appeared to be fine” with no visible injuries initially.
About an hour after checking in, the defendant went out to buy milk and later returned with a bottle of Jack Daniels with honey and two cans of Red Bull. During the evening, Tilici finished the entire bottle of whiskey and got into a heated argument with his girlfriend, accusing her of “being unfaithful by looking at other men.”
The 29-year-old Luton resident began to “get really angry”, hitting his partner on the head with the back of his hand and hurling abuse at her. His girlfriend eventually left to get food from McDonald’s, telling him not to wake the baby.
As she left, Tilici handed over her phone and video-called her on Facebook Messenger, using a tablet to keep an eye on her from the hotel. As she queued for her food, however, she heard the distressing sound of her baby “screaming” and “two loud bangs.”
She urgently questioned the baby’s father, who was off-screen at the time, demanding to know “what happened, why is he crying so much and why is the baby awake?” Tilici nonchalantly replied: “Oh, he’s just hungry.”
When the mother mentioned that she had just finished breastfeeding the baby before leaving the hotel, he dismissed her concerns by saying, “No, no, it’s fine,” and then stated, “I just put my can on the table. That’s where the bangs come from.”
Upon returning to the hotel, the mother demanded to see the baby on video and was horrified to see that his “face was blue and he had blood coming out of his mouth.” She immediately ran back to the room and then took the child to the reception area.
Tilici followed her downstairs, saying in Romanian: “You’re going to put me in jail. They’re going to come and get me.”
After the baby was stabilized at the hospital, medical staff noted an “absence of a plausible accidental explanation” for the injuries, which were not consistent with those expected from a fall and were “much more severe than would be found in such an accident.”
The prosecution argued that the two loud bangs heard were the sounds of the defendant deliberately striking the baby in the face, causing the abusive head trauma.
Tilici was found guilty of intentionally causing grievous bodily harm.
Appearing via video link at HMP Altcourse, he was jailed for 10 years – of which he must serve at least two-thirds before becoming eligible for release.
He was also given restraining orders preventing him from contacting his ex-partner and their baby indefinitely.