A WEST Belfast man has been charged with murdering his baby daughter.
When he first appeared in court in February last year, Christopher O'Neill (25) was charged with causing grievous bodily harm to three-month-old Caragh Walsh but within hours of his appearance, the little girl tragically died.
Mr O'Neill, from the Whiterock Road, was then charged with manslaughter but just last month, a senior prosecutor ordered a fresh post-mortem report.
He was back in the dock in Lisburn today, this time accused of his daughter's murder on February 7 2014.
A preliminary enquiry, committing Mr O'Neill to the crown court to stand trial, was adjourned on foot of a defence application.
Solicitor Paul Sweeney said he had only received "voluminous papers" in the last few days including what he described as "quite complex" medical evidence and asked Deputy District Judge Philip Mateer to adjourn the case for two weeks.
A prosecuting lawyer said she had no objection and, releasing Mr O'Neill on continuing bail, Judge Mateer told him to come back on September 11.
Previous courts have heard how baby Caragh had suffered a "significant traumatic brain injury".
When Mr O'Neill was first charged a police officer outlined how she was taken to the Royal Victoria Hospital "unconscious and not breathing" and that a CT scan revealed subarachnoid and subdural bleeding onto her brain.
The officer said police were alerted by medical staff when they were not happy with the explanation Mr O'Neill provided for his daughter's injuries and that, when challenged during police interviews, he admitted "shaking" her.
His solicitor claimed Mr O'Neill had been looking after his daughter at the Glasvey Park flat he shared with her mother Tammy-Louise Walsh when their baby "became suddenly ill" so in a "panic", he took steps which he thought were "perfectly reasonable in the circumstances".
The couple had been together for 18 months and had only moved into the apartment five days before the incident, the court heard.
