“I hit him twice in the stomach” - Collier Row dad accused of murdering toddler son

A Collier Row dad told a court today (Friday December 2) that he killed his toddler son because he would not stop crying.

Nathan Allen hit fourteen-month-old Fletcher so hard in his abdomen that he died from internal bleeding.

Allen had been left alone with the youngster for only half an hour while his partner Danielle Hands, 19, went to see her family.

Allen, 27, of Erith Crescent, denies murdering Fletcher in January, but admits his manslaughter.

An Old Bailey jury has been told it must decide Allen’s intention when he struck the child.

Allen said he punched Fletcher twice as he lay in his cot because he would not stop crying.

He said: “He was screaming and clinging to my arm.

“I shrugged him off my arm and he sort of fell on his bum and he was laying down and I just hit him.

“I hit him twice in the stomach.

“I didn’t know what else to do. As soon as I’d done it I realised it was wrong and I said ‘sorry Fletcher’ and I picked him up and cuddled him.

“I’m sorry for what I’ve done, I’m so sorry for what I did to him.”

He added: “I just didn’t know what to do, I was beside myself. I was frustrated with myself - my son was crying, I’ve never seen him cry like that.

“Fletcher was so happy and for me to see him like that, I felt like I was doing something wrong.”