:00:03. > :00:13.This programme contains some scenes which some viewers may find
:00:13. > :00:13.
:00:13. > :01:11.Apology for the loss of subtitles for 58 seconds
:01:11. > :01:19.Every parent's joy, the new baby. Cameron Leslie was 6lb 70z. He was
:01:19. > :01:29.born in Belfast Mater Hospital. paid him, held him in my arms, and
:01:29. > :01:30.
:01:30. > :01:33.he was so tiny. And the first time I took him home, I realised I was
:01:33. > :01:38.leaving the hospital and this little thing is coming with me and
:01:38. > :01:44.it is not going back. Sheree counterpart no Ryan Leslie lived in
:01:44. > :01:48.the New Mossley estate just outside North Belfast. She was only 17 when
:01:48. > :01:53.she became pregnant but they were both happy to become parents.
:01:53. > :02:00.Cameron was a brilliant baby. He slept, he was good. He had a
:02:00. > :02:06.routine. I was happy, over the moon. Ryan also appeared to be a loving
:02:06. > :02:10.father. When we were all together, he was very hands on. He would have
:02:11. > :02:20.helped to the bottles, do the nappies, do his fair share of
:02:21. > :02:22.
:02:22. > :02:27.Looking at these pictures, you see a happy, healthy child. There is
:02:27. > :02:37.nothing to suggest that a short time later while in his father's
:02:37. > :03:09.
:03:09. > :03:15.care, this little boy would be at The first Sheree knew something was
:03:15. > :03:20.wrong when she got a call from Ryan, saying he was going to the hospital.
:03:20. > :03:25.He was in an ambulance with Cameron. I was completely shocked. I thought,
:03:26. > :03:31.what is going on? He told me not to worry. He had a little chest
:03:31. > :03:40.infection or something. When he reached hospital, Cameron's
:03:40. > :03:46.condition deteriorated and Ryan's Dad arrived afterwards. Ryan was
:03:46. > :03:52.distressed. He basically said, Daddy, I do not know what is going
:03:52. > :03:58.on. When Sheree got there, she found her son fighting for his life.
:03:58. > :04:03.I walked past Cameron's bed and didn't even recognise my own son
:04:03. > :04:09.because there was all wires and tubes coming out of him. I turned
:04:09. > :04:14.back, actually, and there was a doctor pumping air into his chest
:04:14. > :04:20.because he was a day did. Cameron had bleeding on the brain and his
:04:20. > :04:27.condition was critical. Doctors transferred into the Royal Victoria
:04:27. > :04:35.Hospital in Belfast. Events were to take a dramatic turn there. Ryan
:04:35. > :04:38.caught me. He said, look, John, what are the police doing there? I
:04:38. > :04:44.didn't even notice but he seemed concerned about the police being
:04:44. > :04:48.though. I was just holding his little hand, talking to him, and
:04:48. > :04:53.Ryan came in and went over and kissed him on the head and said,
:04:53. > :04:58.good night. He looked at me and said, everybody is going to think,
:04:58. > :05:02.everybody is going to think I did this. Ryan was right to feel
:05:02. > :05:08.concerned at seeing the police. Doctors examining the baby decided
:05:08. > :05:16.Cameron's injuries were not accidental. I was standing outside
:05:16. > :05:20.with his father, having a smoke, and he said to me, there is my
:05:20. > :05:23.rhyme coming. And I looked at him and he was coming out with
:05:24. > :05:27.detectives. Ryan Leslie was arrested on suspicion of harming
:05:27. > :05:34.his son but there was a more shocking and devastating moment to
:05:34. > :05:39.come. Cameron was not going to live and two days after being taken to
:05:39. > :05:47.hospital, Sheree was asked to a cream for his life support machine
:05:47. > :05:55.to be switched off. I chose to switch the machine off at 4:07pm.
:05:55. > :06:05.How do you explain that to anybody, I can't explain it... I'm sorry. It
:06:05. > :06:12.is just really emotional. At the end, it was just my mummy
:06:12. > :06:17.and my daddy and me. Just talking to him. I will never ever forget
:06:17. > :06:26.them last minutes with Cameron, and how much he changed. How much he
:06:26. > :06:36.scared me. 20 minutes I held him. His heart didn't stop beating until
:06:36. > :06:39.
:06:39. > :06:44.4:27pm. The nurses had to take him Billy Lesley says his family was
:06:44. > :06:51.affected, too. What was it like to have to say goodbye to Cameron?
:06:51. > :06:56.wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. Not on my worst enemy. I do not
:06:56. > :07:01.even want to answer that. I can't. How could it be that 14 week old
:07:01. > :07:11.Cameron was dead and had -- and his father was accused of killing him?
:07:11. > :07:11.
:07:11. > :07:15.There was good reason to think, in fact, the baby was at risk.
:07:15. > :07:19.Sheree met Ryan on the New Mossley estate. She grew up a short
:07:19. > :07:26.distance away at Whiteabbey and had plans to study travel and tourism.
:07:26. > :07:31.I had just left school at 16. I was in New Mossley. My first impression
:07:31. > :07:37.was that he was funny and outgoing. There was another side to her new
:07:37. > :07:41.boyfriend. Ryan Leslie was 23 and unemployed, and had a history of
:07:41. > :07:48.violence. He had three convictions for assault, including two on
:07:48. > :07:52.police officers. Ryan Leslie is a cold, manipulative person. During
:07:52. > :07:57.our investigation, we discovered a number of areas which showed his
:07:57. > :08:04.propensity to violence. His violent nature was exacerbated by his heavy
:08:04. > :08:10.drug use. I could not deal with it when Ryan came in height as a kite.
:08:10. > :08:16.He was abusive to me, to his mother. It was unacceptable. I would slap
:08:16. > :08:23.him. Throw him out. But I have lived at, seeing my son suffer
:08:23. > :08:33.through wit. My child grew up to us -- to be somebody even will.
:08:33. > :08:34.
:08:34. > :08:39.wasn't long after they moved in together that is violence appeared.
:08:39. > :08:43.He punched me when I tried to walk out of the door. He automatically
:08:43. > :08:50.apologised for what he'd done, he said, sorry, sorry. He didn't mean
:08:50. > :08:58.it. They abused each other verbally. Ryan went overboard physically. I
:08:58. > :09:03.told him that. I threatened to slap him myself if he ever slapped a
:09:03. > :09:08.girl. As the rows increased, so did the cuts and bruises which Sheree
:09:08. > :09:17.hit from family and friends. Why did you stay with him? I felt I had
:09:17. > :09:22.no way to go, even though I did -- even though I had my mum. It was
:09:22. > :09:29.kept behind closed doors. I wanted to make things work and I didn't
:09:29. > :09:33.want to believe what was really happening to me. Research reveals a
:09:33. > :09:38.staggering statistic. One in four women in Northern Ireland have
:09:38. > :09:42.suffered one -- some sort of domestic violence. Sheree's story
:09:42. > :09:48.is a common one in that there is a great stigma associated with
:09:48. > :09:51.domestic violence. The police are called out to an incident every 20
:09:51. > :09:55.minutes, but we also know from other research that actually only
:09:55. > :09:59.about half the incidents of domestic violence ever notified --
:09:59. > :10:04.I have ever notified to the authorities. Ryan Leslie also
:10:04. > :10:08.became controlling but Sheree said she loved him and hoped things
:10:08. > :10:13.would change when the couple got some unexpected news. Cameron was
:10:13. > :10:20.unplanned. I was on contraception and just threw partying and being
:10:20. > :10:23.stupid and forgetting to take my pill, I fell pregnant. Because Ryan
:10:23. > :10:29.was delighted at the prospect of being a father, Sheree believes the
:10:29. > :10:34.violence would stop. I can understand why she felt that. But
:10:34. > :10:38.the opposite is true. We know that men that are violent towards their
:10:38. > :10:42.partners, whenever their partner becomes pregnant, they feel they
:10:42. > :10:47.have a greater claim over their partner and child. Therefore, their
:10:47. > :10:52.behaviour becomes much more controlling, and they are more
:10:52. > :10:57.likely to use physical force as a way to impose that controlling
:10:57. > :11:02.dimension to the relationship. Therefore, whether somebody stays
:11:02. > :11:08.or leaves, then the introduction of a child into a situation increases
:11:08. > :11:14.the risk to both the adult and also the child, whether born or unborn.
:11:15. > :11:20.About 30% of all violence starts when someone is pregnant. During
:11:20. > :11:23.2009-2010, we had 11 babies born to mothers with in our refuges and
:11:23. > :11:28.mothers because they had to get away from home and find somewhere
:11:28. > :11:31.safe. Ryan hit me throughout my pregnancy and before, when I wasn't
:11:31. > :11:38.pregnant, but I did tell him and made him aware that if he ever
:11:38. > :11:46.lifted his hands to me when Cameron was born that was it. In the spring
:11:46. > :11:54.of 2008, six months into the pregnancy, Ryan kicked her between
:11:54. > :11:58.the thighs. Worried about the baby, Sheree and her mother told the
:11:58. > :12:03.midwife about the violence. asked me whether I wanted it
:12:03. > :12:07.reported, which I said that I didn't. I didn't want any social
:12:07. > :12:11.services to be brought in. That would be another big regret I would
:12:11. > :12:15.have. It would have prevented things. The guidance to health
:12:15. > :12:19.professionals could not be clearer. Whatever Sheree said, the midwife
:12:19. > :12:23.could have been recorded. If that happened, three months later when
:12:23. > :12:27.Cameron was born, social services would have been a where there was a
:12:27. > :12:31.child at risk, but no record of that abuse appears in her medical
:12:31. > :12:35.notes. An important opportunity to alert those that could have
:12:35. > :12:38.intervened appears to have been missed. According to Northern
:12:38. > :12:43.Health Trust policy, social services could have -- should have
:12:43. > :12:47.been told of Ryan Leslie's violence towards his partner has a
:12:47. > :12:51.potentially the couple and baby would have been monitored. And Ryan
:12:51. > :12:56.Leslie's fitness to care for his child questioned. We asked the
:12:56. > :13:00.Northern Health Trust what should have happened once Sheree told the
:13:00. > :13:04.midwife of the assault. They said it would have expected -- expected
:13:04. > :13:14.the midwife to take appropriate action to ensure the patient's
:13:14. > :13:14.
:13:14. > :13:20.It also confirmed it has no record of domestic violence in her notice.
:13:20. > :13:24.The trust said it was always open to learning lessons if appropriate.
:13:24. > :13:29.The earlier the professionals identify the family is having
:13:29. > :13:33.difficulty, and are able to provide support, the less likely children
:13:33. > :13:41.will be harmed. In cases like this one, if people had been able to
:13:41. > :13:45.respond to some of the Father's aggressive behaviour in other
:13:45. > :13:50.aspect of his life, it may have reduced the likelihood he would be
:13:50. > :13:58.aggressive towards his partner and Until madly his son. When Cameron
:13:58. > :14:01.was born, the home was found to be clean and tidy. Ryan took on his
:14:01. > :14:11.fatherly responsibilities. Neighbours would also hear him
:14:11. > :14:20.screaming at the child. That old rage had returned. Local community
:14:20. > :14:26.worker, Jackie come up also remembers Ryan's aggression flowing
:14:26. > :14:30.up over his housing. I explained he was way down the chain, he has a
:14:30. > :14:35.flat and one partner, it was sufficient. They will put you on a
:14:35. > :14:39.list but you could be there for four years or longer, unless you
:14:40. > :14:44.have another family. He was very angry. Things came to a head when
:14:44. > :14:50.the baby was 11 weeks old. Ryan starter shouted at him from the
:14:50. > :14:56.bathroom because he was crying, and then me and Ryan got into an
:14:56. > :14:59.argument over the way he spoke to him. Woman went to her mother's
:14:59. > :15:04.house to live and told Ryan the relationship was over, but she
:15:04. > :15:14.still wanted her son to spend time with his father. Ryan bombarded
:15:14. > :15:15.
:15:15. > :15:19.with -- Sheree with text messages. He was constantly ringing me and
:15:19. > :15:25.texting me. One minute he was crying and crying about how he
:15:25. > :15:32.wanted me back, he loved me so much, then he changed, calling me off the
:15:32. > :15:37.names under the sun and threatening me. Roy and Leslie's temper was so
:15:37. > :15:42.bad his GP had referred him to Mater Hospital in 2007 to assess
:15:42. > :15:48.both his anger and his mental state, but he later repeatedly failed to
:15:48. > :15:52.turn up for anger management appointments, concluding in the
:15:52. > :16:01.week Cameron was injured. He had also twice gone to local police
:16:01. > :16:08.station in a rage, demanding help for his anger. The Police say he
:16:08. > :16:15.had not committed a crime. He was trying to kick the class in. They
:16:15. > :16:20.said there was nothing they could do for him. It is not us you need,
:16:20. > :16:24.you need to see somebody. It is only then he turned round and said
:16:24. > :16:28.if you do something, I am telling you now you will find me hanging.
:16:28. > :16:34.The second visit at the police station was on the day Sheree had
:16:34. > :16:39.left, taking Cameron with her. Ryan was warning that he was angry and
:16:39. > :16:44.suicidal because they had moved out. It was just three weeks before
:16:44. > :16:49.Cameron was killed. Police directed him to an on-call social worker,
:16:49. > :16:54.but the trusts says it can't discuss Ryan Leslie's personal
:16:54. > :16:59.medical records and so will not comment on his contact with social
:16:59. > :17:03.services or of the GP. Experts say after a couple splits, the
:17:03. > :17:12.potential for more violence increases further. But despite
:17:12. > :17:18.Ryan's volatility, Sheree agreed to having -- him having his son alone
:17:18. > :17:24.overnight. The baby was dropped back to Sheree the next morning.
:17:24. > :17:29.noticed a bruised inside Cameron's ear. The phone rang straight away,
:17:30. > :17:35.and I asked him how Cameron got the bruise. His automatic reaction was
:17:35. > :17:39.I didn't hit my child, are you accusing me of hitting my child? I
:17:39. > :17:45.said I wasn't but that he had been in his care and I was asking how he
:17:45. > :17:51.got the bruise. Sheree has gone over and over in her mind this
:17:51. > :17:56.conversation with Ryan. I wish I had been more on the ball about
:17:57. > :18:01.things. I approached Ryan about this but I should have pushed him,
:18:01. > :18:08.questioned him more. I shouldn't have let him go back into his care.
:18:08. > :18:13.I do have guilt for not doing that, but I wasn't suspecting Ryan have
:18:13. > :18:18.anything. When it came to Cameron, to be honest I trusted him.
:18:18. > :18:22.living as a single mother, Sheree admits she was glad of the break
:18:22. > :18:28.and took Cameron back to stay with Ryan on the following Tuesday,
:18:28. > :18:35.again for one overnight stay. However, the next morning, Ryan
:18:35. > :18:44.called Sheree. He called me at about half-past 11, saying Cameron
:18:45. > :18:49.was brilliant, that he wanted to keep him for another night. Ryan
:18:49. > :18:53.kept Cameron, and the next significant contact was from the
:18:53. > :18:58.ambulance on the way to Antrim Hospital. A post-mortem found that,
:18:58. > :19:02.as a result of a heavy blow to the head, Cameron had massive bleeding
:19:02. > :19:08.on the surface of the brain, which caused extensive and fatal brain
:19:08. > :19:14.damage. He also had 14 fractured ribs and his body had bruising to
:19:14. > :19:20.many areas. Throughout questioning and around 15 hours of interviews,
:19:20. > :19:27.Ryan Leslie maintained he didn't attack his son. But two days after
:19:27. > :19:31.Cameron died, he was charged with murdering his own child. The baby's
:19:32. > :19:37.death had a massive impact on the tight-knit community, which raised
:19:37. > :19:42.�2,000 to help pay for his funeral. But what the hundreds of mourners
:19:42. > :19:47.didn't know was the distressing effect of the post-mortem on
:19:47. > :19:51.Cameron's small body. I wish Ryan had seen Cameron in his coffin for
:19:51. > :19:55.what he had done to him, because having to look at Cameron and
:19:55. > :20:01.knowing that things he had been through in the post-mortem is just
:20:01. > :20:05.not fair. Nobody should have to bury their own child. In January,
:20:05. > :20:09.writes Leslie's trial began. The court heard how he had delayed
:20:09. > :20:15.calling an ambulance for his son even though he said the baby had
:20:15. > :20:20.looked dead seven hours before he dialled 999. Jurors were also told
:20:20. > :20:24.Healy began to offer any explanation for the baby's state as
:20:24. > :20:28.the injuries emerged. When he was told of the fractured ribs, he said
:20:28. > :20:33.it must have happened when he tried to resuscitate his son by giving
:20:33. > :20:40.him CPR. Ryan never mentioned CPR until he was told about the
:20:40. > :20:44.fractured ribs, which was about 6 o'clock on Thursday night. Ryan had
:20:44. > :20:50.spent all day not mentioning it wants to any doctors, any medical
:20:50. > :20:54.staff whatsoever. Even when he had been asked for an account of what
:20:54. > :21:01.happened. The court heard that the 14 fractured ribs were not
:21:01. > :21:05.inflicted by CPR, but by Ryan squeezing Cameron with both hands.
:21:05. > :21:11.From the outset, the evidence points to the fact that he has lied
:21:11. > :21:14.to medical staff, he has lied to Sheree, to his family, and during
:21:14. > :21:20.extensive interviews with police, he continued to lie about his
:21:20. > :21:25.actions. Ryan's story changed depending on what evidence was put
:21:25. > :21:28.to him, again only when he discovered the nature of his baby's
:21:28. > :21:33.head injuries did he have a story about the child knocking his head
:21:33. > :21:39.on a plastic bath. But medical experts concluded Ryan Leslie had
:21:39. > :21:44.inflicted some sort of heavy blow to the side of Cameron's head
:21:44. > :21:50.severe enough to cause a blood clot and trigger bleeding on the brain.
:21:50. > :21:55.The jury decided the things he had said were all lies. After six weeks
:21:55. > :22:04.of evidence, they took just two hours to find Ryan Leslie guilty of
:22:04. > :22:10.murder. Billy Leslie still refuses to accept his some's guilt. I did
:22:10. > :22:15.question myself, could he have done something in a fit of rage? I know
:22:15. > :22:20.Ryan has got anger and an attitude. I have an attitude. If I started
:22:20. > :22:25.pushing your buttons, you would be bound to react. Is he capable of
:22:25. > :22:31.doing these injuries? Yes, to an adult. To his own baby, definitely
:22:31. > :22:37.not. Ryan has been found guilty in a court by a jury, they have
:22:37. > :22:40.accepted he is guilty of the murder of his baby. The investigation
:22:40. > :22:45.never focuses on one individual, any investigation will ensure
:22:45. > :22:50.nobody else is guilty as well as the suspect, however Ryan was the
:22:50. > :22:54.only suspect from the outset. is riotously during one of his
:22:54. > :22:58.court appearances. Sentencing him to 17 years for the murder of his
:22:58. > :23:03.baby, the judge said he had shown no remorse and was a deeply
:23:03. > :23:08.dishonest and manipulative individual. The judge also made it
:23:08. > :23:13.clear Ryan Leslie was a man who could not control his temper.
:23:13. > :23:19.temper was a key factor in the case. It is my belief that Ryan was
:23:19. > :23:23.unable to cope with looking after his baby on his own, and at some
:23:23. > :23:27.point something has happened which has caused him to lose his temper.
:23:27. > :23:32.His anger has been raised and as a result he has inflicted horrific
:23:32. > :23:37.injuries on his own 14 week-old baby some. In the week of the
:23:37. > :23:40.conviction, there is a review of the case. It will have to ask
:23:40. > :23:46.whether there could have been any intervention to protect Cameron
:23:46. > :23:49.from the violence of his father. What is clear is, had the midwife
:23:49. > :23:55.recorded when Sheree had been attacked, social services would
:23:55. > :24:00.have had to have intervened and Cameron would have been saved.
:24:00. > :24:04.Research suggests this case may not be unique. I think a vast majority
:24:04. > :24:09.of professionals are aware of the guidance, but we also know from
:24:09. > :24:17.work we do that there are cases when that guidance does not appear
:24:17. > :24:20.to have been followed. Like many children at risk, Cameron never
:24:20. > :24:25.appeared on the child protection register. One case found that the
:24:25. > :24:32.vast majority of people physically abused as children never made it
:24:32. > :24:35.onto the register. Only a tiny proportion of those were known and
:24:35. > :24:38.placed on child protection registers. In some cases that was
:24:38. > :24:43.25 times higher than what would have been known to social services
:24:43. > :24:47.at the time. In this case it was not just social services left
:24:47. > :24:52.unaware. The night before Cameron came into his care for the last
:24:52. > :25:01.time, Ryan Leslie says he tried to take his own life but nobody had
:25:01. > :25:05.told Sheree. Ryan tried to commit suicide on the Monday, but if I had
:25:05. > :25:10.known what Ryan had tried to do, I would never have let Cameron be in
:25:10. > :25:14.his care. What is known is that there is a higher percentage of
:25:14. > :25:21.children on the child protection register in Northern Ireland than
:25:21. > :25:26.in any other part of the UK. The numbers have risen 50% since 2004.
:25:26. > :25:32.As of 31st March this year, there were around 2400 children on the
:25:32. > :25:36.register. So why are the referrals rising? I think it is a good sign
:25:36. > :25:39.that the number of referrals about children who need support and
:25:40. > :25:48.protection has increased. It doesn't necessarily mean there are
:25:48. > :25:53.more children at risk, it shows the system has been improved. Parents
:25:53. > :25:58.are more likely to pick up the telephone and tell social services
:25:58. > :26:02.about problems. This means more pressure on social services. Over
:26:02. > :26:06.the last few years, we have seen a pretty big increase in terms of the
:26:06. > :26:11.demands being placed on social services and social work in
:26:11. > :26:18.particular. In some trusts, the amount of referrals have gone up by
:26:18. > :26:24.30%. In the last 10 years there have been 35 children killed or
:26:24. > :26:28.injured mostly by their carers in Northern Ireland. The NSPCC are
:26:28. > :26:34.researching how social services and others reacted in those cases. But
:26:34. > :26:38.whatever their findings, it won't bring back Cameron Leslie. The
:26:38. > :26:44.judge made it clear that the father Rolo and was responsible for the
:26:44. > :26:49.child's death, but Sheree admits to feeling some guilt. Do you in any
:26:49. > :26:54.way blame yourself? Not for his death, but I blame myself for the
:26:54. > :26:58.choices I made in life. Maybe if I hadn't made certain choices to live
:26:58. > :27:03.with Ryan and rush into things, I wouldn't have ended up pregnant and
:27:03. > :27:08.things wouldn't have happened the way they did. Sheree has now got a
:27:09. > :27:13.job and is also modelling, but she can't move on in her mind. I try to
:27:13. > :27:22.block out a lot of my emotions. I am not ready to deal with what has
:27:22. > :27:26.happened. I don't know when I will be ready. I think it is Cameron
:27:26. > :27:35.that gives me the strength to be so strong, because I am not going to