A stepdad has been jailed for life for shaking his partner’s baby to death after flying into a rage while arguing with a previous ex-girlfriend.
Thomas Morgan, 29, left little Jensen-Lee Dougal with “catastrophic” brain damage at the family home in Swansea after a row with his ex-girlfriend while the baby’s mother was at work.
At Swansea Crown Court on Wednesday, Judge Mary Stacey said Morgan had shaken Jensen-Lee in a violent attack that left him with extensive injuries, then lied about what happened.
Jailing him for at least 19 years, she said: “The violent shaking with Jensen-Lee’s head moving back and forward quickly accelerating and decelerating may have been very brief but it was hard enough to cause his extensive internal head injuries that caused his death.”
The court previously heard the baby died in hospital after suffering severe brain damage, numerous fractures and extensive retinal bleeding to both of his eyes.
Morgan had been in a relationship with Jensen-Lee’s mother, Jordan Dougal, and was treated as the baby’s stepfather at the time of the murder.
Caroline Rees KC, prosecuting, said Morgan “seriously abused the trust placed in him” when he carried out the “extremely violent attack” on Jensen-Lee on 30 March 2024, the day before he died.
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Morgan had a heated dispute with his former partner, Georgia Griffiths, earlier that day and was left alone with the infant while the baby’s mother went to work.
Ms Rees told the jury Morgan was “full of rage” following the row with Ms Griffiths over text message.
She told the court: “It is clear that this abusive exchange had flipped some kind of switch in Thomas Morgan.
“By the time he was alone with Jenson-Lee, he was angry and aggressive and in no state of mind to be caring for a young baby on his own.”
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While at work, Ms Dougal got a call from Morgan telling her the baby was choking and had stopped breathing.
The five-month-old was rushed to hospital but found to have a “devastating” brain injury and was taken off life support the following day.
Morgan denied inflicting serious injuries on Jensen-Lee and said he tried to save the baby after he fell ill in his care, believing he had choked on his own sick.
But he was found guilty of murder and causing grievous bodily harm with intent after a trial at Swansea Crown Court.
Mrs Justice Stacey sentenced Morgan, of Gorseinon, Swansea, to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 19 years.
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In a statement after the sentencing, Jensen-Lee’s mother Jordan said: “Since Jensen-Lee’s death, my life has been permanently changed. I live with overwhelming grief, trauma and emotional pain.
“I never had the chance to hear Jensen-Lee say he loved me. I will never hear him call me ‘mammy’. I will never see him take his first steps, speak his first words, start school, or grow into the person he was meant to be.
“Due to what Thomas Morgan did, I have also received a life sentence, but mine is one of grief.”
