A postman allegedly shook his four-week-old son to death after drinking several pints on a night out, a court has heard.
Tony Bartlett, 39, is accused of murdering and manslaughtering baby Atticus Bartlett at the family home in Chard, Somerset, late on 16 July 2022. Bristol Crown Court was told Bartlett had consumed approximately nine pints of beer that evening — his first night out with partner Evelyn Ballentyne since the birth of their son.
The alleged act
Prosecutor Charles Row KC told the jury that after the couple returned home at about 10.45pm, Ms Ballentyne went upstairs to get changed, leaving Bartlett alone with Atticus “for just a few moments”. During that brief window, the prosecution alleges, Bartlett violently shook the infant with such force that he caused severe internal injuries to the baby’s brain and damaged his spinal cord. The shaking was so violent, Mr Row said, that Bartlett “must have squeezed his child so hard that he cracked several ribs”.
When Ms Ballentyne came downstairs moments later, she saw her baby lying face down across his father’s knees, unresponsive. “At that point, Atticus was lifeless, face down and across his father’s knees,” Mr Row recounted. As she walked into the room, Atticus made “a couple of strange gasping sounds” — sounds the prosecutor described as the baby’s “last gasps”. Ms Ballentyne immediately shouted, “He’s dead.”
Bartlett allegedly moved the child onto his back, describing him as “floppy and lifeless”.
Prosecution details fatal injuries and intent
The prosecution devoted significant detail to the nature of the injuries and the alleged intent behind them. Mr Row told the jury that “something” that night had caused Bartlett to become frustrated with his young son. Atticus, the court heard, was a “difficult and messy feeder” who had a tendency to spit out his milk, and on the evening of the incident he had been “grizzly and crying” on and off.
“Whatever happened, Tony Bartlett could not and did not tolerate it,” Mr Row said. “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.” The prosecutor then posed a direct question to the jury: “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?”
Paramedics were called to the family home at 11.29pm. Atticus was taken by ambulance to Musgrove Park Hospital, arriving at 12.16am on 17 July, and then transferred to Bristol Royal Hospital for Children at 5am. “The damage to Atticus’ brain was so severe that nothing could be done,” Mr Row said. “He never managed to breathe for himself again and he never regained consciousness.” The baby died just before midnight on 23 July 2022.
Mr Row told the jury the possibility that Ms Ballentyne’s attempts to revive Atticus with “gentle shaking” might have caused the fatal injuries had been “considered carefully by experts and ruled out”.
The prosecution’s case is that Bartlett must have intended to cause really serious harm. The court heard that earlier that evening, Ms Ballentyne’s mother and her partner had babysat Atticus from about 6pm while the couple went to the Cerdic pub — a former cinema now a Wetherspoon establishment in Chard — for food and drinks. They later attended a comedy night at Chard Guildhall before returning home around 10.45pm. After the babysitters left, Ms Ballentyne went upstairs, leaving Bartlett alone with the baby.
The defence denial
The defence case, presented by Nigel Power KC, is that Bartlett denies both charges of murder and manslaughter. In initial police interviews, Bartlett claimed he had been feeding Atticus when the baby started coughing and choking. He 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”. However, Mr Row told the jury that Bartlett now says this is not what happened and that any non-accidental injury must have been caused by Ms Ballentyne. “It is his case that he bears no responsibility for Atticus’ death whatsoever,” the prosecutor added.
Bartlett, of Axminster, Devon, was working as a postman at the time of the incident. He was granted conditional bail following a plea and trial preparation hearing on 20 June 2025, where he pleaded not guilty. The trial at Bristol Crown Court began with a jury being sworn in on 11 June 2026 and is expected to last up to five weeks.
The trial continues.
