Man, 24, is found guilty of murdering his girlfriend's three-month-old son after 'snapping' when the baby wouldn't stop crying

Tyla Wharmby, 24, of Ramsgate, Kent, inflicted fatal head injuries on 13-week-old Hunter Hodges that doctors compared to injuries typical of a high-speed motorcycle crash or a fall from multiple storeys. Hunter was discovered pale and unresponsive, with severe swelling to his head, at a Queen Street property at 5.30am on 15 July 2022, and died later that day from a fractured skull and catastrophic brain swelling. Wharmby, not Hunter's biological father, had been left to look after the baby overnight while Hunter's mother, Shannon Hodges, slept.

Forensic evidence showed that Wharmby had hurt Hunter on a prior occasion in a way that pointed to violent shaking.

Just minutes before Shannon called 999, Wharmby visited a pornography website — and had lied to police about what happened.

A majority jury verdict at Canterbury Crown Court found Wharmby guilty, and he is due to be sentenced on a date yet to be fixed.