Baby killer Ashley John McGregor sentenced to 10 years in jail for son Alvin’s death

WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT

A dad who shook his 19-day-old baby son and then did nothing as the little one’s condition deteriorated has been sentenced to a decade behind bars.

Ashley John McGregor, 35, was punished at the South Australian District Court on Wednesday for the manslaughter death of his son Alvin, who died some 42 hours after being shaken.

The injured baby had a swollen upper lip, could not open his left eye, and seemed drowsy and unable to feed properly in the hours following his father’s act of violence.

Neither McGregor nor Alvin’s mum Rebecca Lea Denton sought medical treatment for their son, even though both knew he had suffered serious injuries.

McGregor pretended he had accidentally knocked over the baby’s bassinet to cover up his brutal act, which happened on April 21, 2021.

Alvin died on the morning of April 23 that year after he was found cold and unresponsive in his bassinet.

Judge Paul Muscat found McGregor guilty of manslaughter and criminal neglect in March, then on Wednesday slapped him with a 10-year sentence.

“You allowed your son to suffer in pain and did not give him the chance of survival, you pretended you did not know what was wrong with Alvin,” Judge Muscat said.

“Had you done the right thing as a parent and taken Alvin to hospital or to see a doctor, he may have survived, he may still be here today.”

McGregor is already serving an eight-year jail term for unrelated offences, with the 10-year sentence to be added onto the existing term. He will now serve out an 18-year sentence.

The non-parole period for all offences is 13 years, starting from May 2021.

Judge Muscat said the need for public denunciation had influenced his sentence.

“Newborn babies are utterly defenceless and deserve to feel safe and secure in their parents’ care,” he said.

“In sentencing you, there is a strong need to reinforce the seriousness of this offending and punish you and deter others from acting in the way you did against the very young.”

McGregor was looking after Alvin on his own when he became frustrated he could not settle the baby’s crying.

“You lost control of your emotions and reacted inappropriately and intimately with devastating consequences for Alvin,” Judge Muscat said.

“You took hold of Alvin around the chest, deliberately squeezed him and then shook or threw him.”

A post-mortem examination of Alvin revealed serious injuries to his brain, left and right retina, bruising to the scalp, multiple rib fractures.

Denton pleaded guilty to criminal neglect in Alvin’s death.

Judge Rauf Soulio sentenced her to four-and-a-half years’ jail with a non-parole period of two-and-a-half years in February 2024.

Denton was ordered to serve her sentence in home detention.

Judge Soulio said there was no suggestion Denton caused any of Alvin’s injuries, but she did fail to secure medical help for him.

“Knowing that he had been injured, that his condition was deteriorating … you failed to provide or obtain medical care,” he said.

The court was told Denton used marijuana during Alvin’s pregnancy and McGregor had suggested Alvin’s changes could be explained by cannabis withdrawal.

Denton blew cannabis smoke into the infant’s face.

The heartbroken loved ones of Alvin revealed their grief to the court at an emotional hearing in April, saying their family had been “changed forever” by McGregor’s actions.

Alvin’s grandmother said she could not bear to think of the little baby’s pain before he died.

“Ashley knows what he did to him,” she said.

“Alvin was innocent, defenceless and just beginning his journey in this world.

“He should still be here. We should be watching him grow, smile and feel the love of family that was so ready to surround him with care.

“Instead we are left with silence, grief and an emptiness that will never fully go away.

“No mother should have to bury her child, no grandparent should have to watch their own child suffer the loss of theirs.

“Our family has been changed forever.”

Denton also spoke in court, saying she would never forgive McGregor.

“It’s been four years since you took him from me and the pain is still as excruciating as the day the nurses told me he was gone,” she said.

“I will forever be left wondering what my baby boy would have been like, what his voice would have sounded like, what his personality would have been like, or how close he would have been like with his big brother.”