THERE was uproar in court yesterday after a Derry man was found guilty of the manslaughter of three-year-old Kayden McGuinness.
Liam Whoriskey (25), from Glenabbey Gardens, will be sentenced next month after the jury of six men and five women returned unanimous verdicts at Derry Crown Court after 80 minutes of deliberation.
Family and friends of the toddler roared and clapped in a packed public gallery when the verdicts were announced.
People in the public gallery also shouted "thank you" to the jurors and shouted at Whoriskey as he was taken from the dock to the cells below the courthouse.
Whoriskey, who was engaged to Kayden's mother Erin McLaughlin, had denied the charges.
He shook his head as the jury foreman announced the verdict, following an 18-day-long trial.
Three-year-old Kayden was found dead in his bed in his family flat at Colmcille Court in the Bogside in Derry in September 2017.
The toddler had died as a result of 15 blunt trauma injuries which caused a bleeding and a swelling of his brain.
He sustained the injuries while he was in the sole care of Whoriskey who was babysitting Kayden and his baby sister while their mother Erin McLaughlin was out socialising with family members and friends.
Whoriskey was also convicted of child cruelty n August 15, 2017 when Kayden was found to have sustained a bruised nose and two black eyes.
On a second charge of child cruelty between September 6 and September 16, 2017, the trial judge, Judge Philip Babington instructed the jury to find the defendant not guilty by direction.
Judge Babington then excused the jurors from jury duty for life after telling them it had been a very emotional case for them to have to hear.
Judge Babington remanded Whoriskey in continuing custody until a plea and sentencing hearing takes place on November 29 and he ordered the preparation of pre-sentence and of victim impact reports for that date.
There was a noticeable police presence as both families traded insults on the way out of court.
