The ‘sadistic’ paedophile lover of a ‘murdered’ infant’s mother ‘cruelly’ mutilated the 15-month-old’s genitals and inflicted such severe beatings that the child was rendered blind, the Old Bailey was informed today.
Jake Drummond, 33, a drug user, is charged with the murder of Jacob Lennon on August 27, 2019, following the consumption of cocaine with a companion. He is additionally charged with unlawfully or deliberately inflicting wounds on the youngster with the intent to cause significant harm.
Jake Drummond’s former partner, Louise Lennon, 32, is charged with causing or permitting the death of a child and child maltreatment.
The Old Bailey examined messages sent between them that indicated ‘a reference to placing him in the torture room,’ and Louise Lennon described Jacob as resembling ‘a little crazy’ due to his bruises.
Jurors were informed that Jake Drummond ingested cocaine at approximately 10:30 PM on August 26, following his anger over being required to visit the police station due to a report from his ex-girlfriend of six years, who alleged he had been bothering her in a manner that was ‘nothing short of obsessive.’
Paramedics discovered Jacob with significant swelling and contusions on his face after his mother dialled 999, asserting that he had sustained a head injury ‘as if he had fallen out of bed or something’, jurors were informed.
Medical personnel saw that his eyes were so swollen they could hardly be opened, and he seemed ‘like a panda’ due to the dark bruises beneath them, as reported to the jurors.
He was extremely pallid, devoid of vitality, apneic, and in cardiac arrest, succumbing slightly over an hour after arrival at the hospital.
He exhibited contusions on his forehead, the opposing sides of his temples, and his cheekbones, while his skull was described as ‘almost soft and spongy’.
The court was informed that his testicles were enlarged and he sustained an injury to his penis consistent with blunt force application, such as ‘severe pinching’ or biting, which the prosecution characterised as ‘sadistic’. These injuries constitute the second charge.
The court was informed that traces of cocaine were present in his system post-mortem.
The prosecution stated that Jake Drummond frequently consumed cocaine at night, rendering him incapable of sleeping, and he grew upset with Jacob for sharing the bed with him and Lennon.
Prosecutor Sally O’Neill KC informed the jurors: ‘The Crown contends that Jake Drummond initiated a campaign of intentional attack and harm against Jacob from July until the conclusion of August.’The injuries he inflicted were evident and conspicuous.
It is certain that at some point that night, if Jacob was in bed with Louise Lennon at 1 AM, someone must have removed him from the bed.
It is evident that at some point, some individual, identified by the Crown as Jake Drummond, inflicted substantial harm on Jacob by shaking him and striking him with such force that he lost consciousness.
It is nearly unimaginable that Louise Lennon would have been unaware of the attack, yet even if she was, she not only failed to act but also colluded with Jake Drummond to fabricate a wholly false narrative on Jacob’s incident.
The events schedule illustrates the priorities of these defendants. Jacob’s well-being was not included in that list. They were only preoccupied with their own demands and interests.
Lennon asserted that her son had fallen from his cradle and also stated that Jacob tripped when returning from a store to their flat in Roehampton, south-west London, but provided inconsistent statements regarding whether this incident occurred 13 or five days before to his death.
In December 2018, social services placed Jacob under a child protection plan due to emotional abuse. However, on August 20, 2019, Lennon deceived the social worker by claiming she was on holiday in Hastings to avoid a scheduled visit.
A post-mortem study conducted by Dr. Nat Carey determined that Jacob died from repeated instances of inflicted trauma, culminating in a fatal head injury, possibly resulting from his head striking a blunt surface during shaking.
The court was informed that a neuropathologist discovered Jacob had multiple prior injuries aged several days to weeks, along with a ‘final’ damage that was less than two days old.
The duo refutes all allegations.
Jake Drummond asserts that he never harmed Jacob, however Lennon claims she was ‘coerced and threatened’ by her partner to refrain from seeking assistance for her son.
Jake Drummond had previous convictions for having drugs, holding a knife against his mother’s throat and assaulting an ex-girlfriend by pushing her against a wall.
In the televised sentencing at the Old Bailey, Mr Justice Sweeting handed Jake Drummond of Roehampton, a life sentence with a minimum term of 32 years for Jacob’s murder and six years to run concurrently for wounding.
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