Finley Boden: Chesterfield dad talks of shock at finding toddler son dying in his bedroom on Christmas Day

Stephen Boden, 30, said he went upstairs to give milk to the ten-month-old boy, who had been taken out in a pram to see Christmas lights in Old Whittington.

Finley had been wearing an all-in-one top and had been wheezing but this seemed to improved when he was outside, said Boden who denies murder, manslaughter, allowing or causing the death of a child.

The baby's mother Shannon Marsden, 21, pleads not guilty to the same charges. The case continues at Derby Crown Court.

After his death, Finley was found to have 130 injuries, including 57 fractures. A doctor said he would have been "in severe and protracted pain" before he died on December 25, 2020.

The court heard that when the family returned home in Holland Road, Finley was taken upstairs to bed. Boden kept a check on him via an intercom.

The boy began "spluttering" when given milk, Boden told the jury. "He was breathing through his mouth and drinking at the same time. Doesn't work.

"Some came back up, a bit on him and a bit on the bed," he said.

He took the baby's temperature which was high and gave him Calpol before going downstairs.

Later he went back up to check Finley and told the court: "Obviously he was not breathing. I could not hear anything.

"I got him out of the cot and put him on the bed for a minute or two and moved him downstairs. His eyes were in the back of his head, rolled."

Simon Kealey KC, defending, asked him: "What did you think when you noticed his eyes were rolled and he was not breathing?"

Boden said: "I panicked, went downstairs. I went down screaming 'Shannon,' got downstairs and obviously Shannon came to the living room door.

"I said he was not breathing. She basically took him off me and tried to shake him to wake him up, whilst obviously screaming his name."

He dialled 999 and followed instructions to try and help Finley.

"Chest compressions, breathing over his nose and mouth," he told the jury of seven women and five men.

After the ambulance arrived, Boden was asked how he felt. He replied: "Hysterical, shocked, upset, all emotions running at once."

Mr Kealey asked: "Did you understand what had happened to Finley?"

Boden told him: "I didn't want to understand and I didn't want to believe it."

He saw Finley in the hospital's resuscitation room with his mother and Marsden.

"I was in shock, trying not to believe anything that was happening, trying to think of other things and not think about the situation we were in," Boden said.

Mr Kealey said: "A number of people at the hospital talk about your lack of emotion. Are you the kind of person who shows his emotions?"

He said: "Not really. I try not to be."

When asked about a blood blister on Finley's nose, Boden said he thought it was caused by the baby's dummy.

And when questioned about blood on the baby's lip, he said: "I think he bit it."

Mr Kealey asked about a blue sleep suit which had Finley's blood on it. "I can't remember seeing it," he said.

The barrister went on: "Do you know how blood came to be on it?" Boden said: "No."

A grey blanket had blood on it, the court heard. Boden said: "I had not even seen the blanket. I did not even know we had a grey blanket."

Mr Kealey asked: "Did you deliberately cause any injuries to Finley, kicking, punching, shaking, striking him with anything?" Boden said: "No."

The barrister asked: "Did you have any idea how he was seriously injured in the way doctors discovered?"

Boden said: "No I didn't."

He was later shown a police photo of burn marks on Finley's hands and said: "What I thought was it could not have been his hand because he didn't have no burns."

Mr Kealey asked: "Did he appear in the days leading up to his death he was in a great deal of pain?"

Boden said: "No, just he was a little off it."