July 2016 Dad who gave his four-month-old baby brain damage by shaking him is jailed A dad from Plymouth who shook his baby so hard he will be brain damaged for LIFE has been jailed. Cruel Luke Honeychurch, 24, violently shook four-month-old Romeo, leaving him with brain damage, cerebral palsy , diabetes and epilepsy. A court heard that Honeychurch lost his temper after baby Romeo started crying while his mother was out for the evening, in June 2014. Instead of calling for emergency services, Honeychurch pretended nothing had happened. It was only when his former partner returned to her home, in Saltash, Cornwall, that the baby was rushed to Bristol Children’s Hospital. Honeychurch pleaded guilty to one count of cruelty to a child and was jailed for three years at Truro Crown Court on Friday. Describing the case as “truly tragic”, Judge Simon Carr said the defendant would shout and swear at the baby He added: “What makes this case even worse is what you did after [you shook him] “You would have realised immediately something was potentially very seriously wrong with your son. “Rather than doing what you should have done, which was call 999 immediately, you hoped to cover up what you had done.” The child now suffers form a series of complex medical conditions and will require lifelong care.