JOHN Doak was left “devastated” by his son’s death, a court heard.

The father was crying in the dock as his sentencing hearing played out at Chelmsford Crown Court yesterday.

In mitigation David Emanuel said Doak has been devastated by the death of his son, Jack Mitchell, and it remained unclear how the injuries were sustained.

The court heard that Jack had suffered severe traumatic brain injuries.

Mr Emanuel said “what probably happened was the loss of control temporarily to try and stop Jack from crying”.

He said: “He’s never forgotten his son Jack, still loves him to this day and grieves for him every day.

“What happened on that day has changed him, shaped him and in a way broken him.” However, Mr Justice Cavanagh ruled this was not sufficient mitigation and that Doak must serve a prison sentence.

This will be on top of the four years he already served for causing grievous bodily harm to his son.

The judge said: “You were the only person present on 22 May 2001 apart from Jack, but you have never come clean about what happened.

“You have not described the assault, or what your intentions were.

“This was a single incident probably involving a temporary loss of control.

“But the fact remains that you shook a small and defenceless baby in a way that you must have known was a rough and inappropriate way to treat him, and which might cause him real harm.”