Buzzin Disgrace

Courtney Bryan, 29, murdered his eleven week old son after the baby woke him by crying. He lost his temper and violently shook baby Amaraye, squeezed his ribs until they broke and then threw him against the living room wall.

Bryan and Ginna Gobran started a relationship in 2005 while Gobran was living at her parents house. When the baby was born in November 2007 it was Bryan who named him and was said to have been very possessive over him.

Bryan slept with the baby overnight when he was six weeks old at the family home. The next day the baby had a bruise above his top lip, which Bryan had blamed on the baby’s chair or bottle.

In May 2007, Bryan again stayed with Gobran’s family and was left in charge of Amaraye while Ms. Gobran went out. When she returned the baby was described as pale and listless, but Bryan took him to the park and refused to get him examined at the children’s hospital.

The baby’s grandmother threatened to call the police but Bryan persuaded Amaraye’s mother to say that the child had had a fall while she was with him.

When doctors examined Amaraye, he was found to be seriously ill with a fractured skull, bleeding behind the eyes and broken ribs, he died three days later.

The father tried to say that the baby must have been injured accidentally when he was swinging him round in the garden.

It then emerged about that there were two other babies he had attacked in similar circumstances, and the police decided to review the earlier investigations.

Previously, Bryan had been questioned about the two other assaults on babies, both four months old at the time.  He was questioned twice by a different police force, seven years ago although there was no prosecution in either case.

Bryan had started a relationship with the mother of a four month old baby boy born in 1998, and again he was left to look after the child. The next morning the mother noticed bruising around the baby’s eyes and nose, which Bryan claimed must have happened as he slept with him on the sofa.

During the day the baby’s bruising looked worse and so he was taken to the hospital where it was found he had suffered internal bleeding around the brain and had a broken left leg. They also discovered injuries caused by being shaken which were two-three weeks old. Fortunately, the baby made a full recovery in this case.

Once again, Bryan began a relationship with a mother of a four month old boy who had been born in 1999. A month later, Bryan was again left in charge of the baby while it’s mother went out when the baby fell ill.

The baby was taken to hospital and was found to be suffering from bleeding on the brain and at the back of the eyes, probably caused by shaking. Older injuries were again discovered including a fractured leg and broken ribs. This little baby suffered irreversible brain damage and has needed full time care since he was eight-years-old.

When Bryan was arrested in June 2001, he claimed to have accidentally rolled over on the baby while sleeping with him on the sofa. He was interviewed again by the police in October 2001, when he admitted looking after the child a couple of times but denied injuring him.

On Monday, Courtney Bryan was jailed for life after being found guilty of murder and the two earlier incidents of cruelty towards two children. He must serve a minimum term of twenty years and Mr Justice Henriques told Bryan he was a real danger to young children, and said he was a

“most callous, self-centred and unprincipled individual. No child should ever be permitted under the same roof as you again.”

Miss Gobran, 21, said in a victim impact statement,

“That monster can spend the rest of his life behind bars but it will never bring him (Amaraye) back. I hope he never gets the chance to hold a baby again.”