Father who ‘flung’ his baby son to floor says he was ‘losing his mind’ from lack of sleep

A father has admitted to grabbing his baby son from his mother’s arms and “flinging” him on the floor, allegedly causing injuries from which he died 14 years later.

Lejaune Wood, 43, of Wuppertal, Germany told jurors on Wednesday he was “losing his mind” from working “a lot” and a lack of sleep – but that he never intended to seriously hurt four-month old LJ.

The baby wasn’t admitted to hospital until two days later, where he was diagnosed with a broken arm and ribs, a fractured skull and bleeding on the brain.

Wood admitted it was his idea to delay a trip to see health professionals.

Father admits to ‘flinging’ baby on the floor

LJ died aged 14 on 6 December 2021, allegedly from complications linked to the earlier assault. Wood was later charged with his murder, which he denies.

Speaking to jurors at his Old Bailey trial on Wednesday, Wood, a hotel night-shift worker, said he was “frustrated with everything going on” in his life.

“That morning I just wanted my wife to be there for me,” he said.

“I was literally breaking down inside of me.”

When his wife Paquita became pregnant, Wood – who was born in Barbados before moving to Germany and then coming to the UK in 2005 – said he was “anxious and happy”, even though it was not planned.

LJ was born eight weeks early, and Paquita was admitted to hospital with a postnatal infection. Wood says this caused “quite a lot of strain” and made him “scared” at the prospect of losing his wife.

“About that time, our life was really stressed. It was very strained. It was kind of like living one day to the next,” he told jurors.

“Financially we were living day-to-day. I got a promotion but that was still not enough to live on. I had to work every hour of the day. I was tired and I was stressed.”

Jurors heard that the couple had been arguing about parenting styles, with Wood’s Caribbean and German background clashing with Paquita’s African one.

‘I remember getting agitated’

On the morning of 12 December, Wood woke and called to his wife in the kitchen to come back to bed as he felt “lonely”, the court heard.

“She said she had to care for LJ and give him his milk,” Wood said. “I explained she was spending too much time with LJ and not enough time with me.

“I remember me getting agitated and angry. I said ‘I work every single hour, the least you can do is spend some time with me’. I threw it in my wife’s face. I got really angry and I got really agitated and then I grabbed LJ out of her hands while she was turning away so I couldn’t take him. I was so furious at that point.”

Wood explained that he then “yanked” LJ from his wife’s arms while she was turning away.

“The way I yanked him out of her hands, he was not supported in any kind of way,” he said.

The defendant said he felt “frustration and anger” and that LJ’s head had “flopped”. Paquita tried to intervene, but Wood said he pushed her face hard, causing her to fall to the floor.

“At this stage, I just had enough and I flung LJ to the floor. It was quite a bit of force. At that point I was all over the place,” he said.

On seeing LJ crying, Wood said he “came to my senses”, picked him up and ran into the bathroom to put water on him to “settle” him.

Afterwards, Paquita suggested they take LJ to hospital to get checked out but Wood said he wanted to wait a couple of days to “see how he is”. At first, he said he did not notice any injury but his wife later pointed out LJ’s arm was “floppy” and he had a lump on his head.

By 14 December, Wood said he and his wife were “very worried” and they decided she would take him to Hillingdon hospital as he had to go to work.

Wood accepted he had caused LJ’s injuries and that what he had done was “unlawful”. But he told jurors that he had no intention to cause LJ serious harm during the incident, which took a couple of minutes.

Asked what he had been thinking when he grabbed LJ from his wife, Wood said: “I wanted to take him from her so maybe she would pay attention to me rather than LJ.”

On why he then threw him to the floor, he said: “At that time I just had enough. It was more like I was saying ‘here, have your child’.”