July 2014 Michael Pearce jailed for nine years A man who killed his girlfriend’s six-week-old baby by battering him with a shoe and plastic bottle has been jailed for nine years. Michael Pearce, 33, was looking after Alfie Sullock, from Cardiff, for two hours while the baby’s mother had her first night out following his birth. Magistrate’s son Pearce, of Nelson, Caerphilly county, was cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter. The judge at Newport Crown Court asked if jealousy had played a part. Father-of-one Pearce denied murder and manslaughter, but was convicted of the lesser charge after nearly 36 hours of deliberation. Judge Mr Justice Baker told Pearce: “Alfie died as a result of you having inflicted upon him multiple blunt force injuries. “It may well be that due to your denials we may never know whether you were motivated by jealousy as a result of Donna’s refusal to have your child earlier that evening.” He added that it was “implicit” that Pearce caused Alfie’s head injuries of “up to 10 blows with an object that may have included a baseball boot”. The public gallery was full for the sentencing hearing on Wednesday in which Pearce’s defence team said there was “a momentary loss of control on the part of a man of previous impeccable character”. But the judge said: “This was not a momentary loss of control by a sleep deprived parent. Alfie was only in your care for a short time.” Mother Donna Sullock had left Alfie, born on 6 July 2013, with Pearce, who she was in a relationship with at the time, to enjoy her first night out since giving birth. The pair had become friends while she was six months pregnant, and later became a couple. The court heard Pearce began to display “obsessive behaviour” towards Ms Sullock and asked her to give him a child weeks into their relationship. On 16 August, she travelled from her home to Pearce’s house in Nelson, Caerphilly county. Pearce suggested she go out with his friend’s girlfriend for a “girly night out”. That night Pearce had drunk five pints of beer – four of them in 45 minutes. He then returned home and looked after Alfie while Ms Sullock got ready. She told the court her baby had been fine when she left the house. Later, Pearce dialled 999 and Alfie was transferred to the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, where four days later his life support was withdrawn. Alfie died of blunt trauma injury and extensive bleeding into the brain. Pearce was cleared of murder but convicted of manslaughter on Tuesday by a 10-2 jury majority. Ms Sullock said she was “disappointed” with the verdict. As she wept on the steps of the court after the verdict, the 29-year-old said on Tuesday: “Whatever sentence he will get, it will never be long enough for taking Alfie’s life away. “We have been through a year of absolute hell.” Man killed girlfriend’s baby then tried to cover his tracks by sending pictures to her Baby killer Michael Pearce will learn today how long he will spend behind bars when he is sentenced for causing the death of his girlfriend’s six-week-old baby son Prosecutors at Michael Pearce’s trial said the child received serious head injuries after being hit with the sole of a shoe and various bottles, as was babysat at his terraced home in Nelson, Caerphilly, south Wales. The couple met when former holiday rep Ms Sullock was six months’ pregnant. He was looking after Alfie for the child’s mum Donna Sullock, who went for her first night out since giving birth. A trial at Newport Crown Court heard it was also the first time divorcee Pearce had been left alone with the baby. Alfie died after suffering head and abdominal injuries. Doctors later discovered Alfie had a total of around 13 injuries. He had bruising across his face and abdomen and a “scratch” injury was also found on his penis. But motorcycle mechanic Pearce was today cleared by a jury of Alfie’s murder, but convicted of manslaughter. We can also now reveal Pearce stood trial for indecently assaulting a child more than a decade ago but was cleared by a jury in that instance. During the trial, the defendant’s counsel had queried whether Ms Sullock may have accidentally hurt her son while getting ready and whether Alfie’s bruising was caused by medics trying to revive him. Those two claims were both disputed in court by Alfie’s mother and paramedics. Pearce, who had drunk five pints of beer that evening, said he had “no idea” how Alfie was injured. He said he raised the alarm after returning from the toilet and noticing Alfie had stopped breathing. A post mortem examination later revealed Alfie had died of blunt trauma injury and extensive bleeding into the brain. Boyfriend Pearce had encouraged the new mum to go out for an evening with “the girls” by volunteering to babysit. On August 16, Ms Sullock travelled from her home in the Welsh capital to Pearce’s home in the town of Nelson to stay over the weekend. The baby’s mother said her son was healthy and breathing normally before she left. Less than half an hour into her night, a worried Ms Sullock asked if her son was doing okay. The defendant sent a text saying: “you can trust me”. The court also heard the motorcycle mechanic had drunk five pints of beer on that fateful evening  He even texted her photographs of Alfie during the evening claiming it was to “reassure” her the baby was okay. In reality Alfie had almost certainly already been fatally injured and the photographs were part of Pearce’s frantic cover up efforts to make it appear the baby was healthy and unhurt. In the half an hour that followed, at 9.11pm an ambulance was called. The seven-minute call was later played to the jury in full. When asked by the operator did he see what happened, the defendant replied he had simply given the baby a bottle and then the child had stopped breathing. On August 20, life support was withdrawn and Alfie died in hospital in Cardiff, the court heard. As the jury delivered its verdict, there were shouts of “what” from the public gallery where Ms Sullock’s family sat. Before the verdict was delivered the judge had commended Ms Sullock, her family and friends for the dignified way they had conducted themselves through the proceedings. Ms Sullock had attended every day of the trial – and listened to evidence such as the 999 call and details of her son’s post-mortem examination. His mum, a former holiday rep, who had clutched her son’s teddy while attending every single day of her former boyfriend’s trial, later said: “We are disappointed at today’s verdict but satisfied he will still go to prison for what he has done. “Whatever sentence he gets will never be long enough for taking Alfie’s life away.” Despite protesting his innocence, a jury of eight men and four women convicted Pearce on their eighth day of deliberations. Following the completion of the case, Ms Sullock wished to thank family, friends as well as total strangers for their “amazing support” during her “year of hell”. Pearce will be sentenced at Newport Crown Today