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Joseph McDonald jailed for nine years for killing seven-week-old son in 'fit of anger'

A young man with a beard.
The court heard Joseph McDonald had anger issues, used drugs and was an obsessive gamer.(

Supplied: Victoria Police


A Victorian father who fatally shook his baby son in a "burst of anger" fuelled by an addiction to cannabis and video games has been jailed for nine years.

Joseph McDonald, 23, was living with his partner Samantha Duckmanton and their two sons when he forcefully shook their son, Lucas, in October last year.

Ms Duckmanton was in another room of their home in Benalla, in Victoria's north-east, at the time.

After the seven-week-old released a "high-pitched cry", McDonald reassured his partner that he was "just swaddling him".

As Lucas's condition deteriorated, his mother made multiple calls to medical services before taking him to the emergency department in Benalla the next morning.

Over days of testing and medical treatment, McDonald did not tell his partner or the doctors treating his son what he had done.

After Lucas's death, hospital staff explained to the family that they believed his catastrophic head injuries were not accidental.

An infant dressed in a blue jumpsuit.
Lucas McDonald was 53 days old when he died from his injuries.(

Supplied: Samantha Duckmanton


In a conversation with Ms Duckmanton at the hospital, McDonald confessed he had become frustrated because Lucas would not stop crying, and he had pressed down on his brain stem.

He then fled the hospital, before turning himself in to police several days later.

Father hid guilt instead of helping doctors

In sentencing McDonald to nine years' jail with a non-parole period of six years and eight months, Supreme Court Justice Stephen Kaye denounced McDonald's decision not to disclose his actions to doctors who were trying to save his son's life.

"You failed to put his welfare and survival before your own desire to conceal your guilt over what you had done to him," Justice Kaye said.

"At the time of his death, Lucas, your infant son, was totally vulnerable and dependent on you for his safety and wellbeing.

"Instead, by your actions, you took his life from him, and, by doing so, you have inflicted irreparable pain and grief on those who loved him, and in particular, on his mother and your partner, Samantha."

Ms Duckmanton previously told the court she viewed the killing of her son as a "coward's act" and she would be haunted by the fact that she could not protect Lucas "because I trusted Joseph".

Justice Kaye said McDonald was addicted to his PlayStation and was heavily abusing cannabis when he fatally injured his son in a "fit of anger".

"Those two factors do not excuse or mitigate your offence at all," the judge said.

"Rather, they provide an explanation for what you did.

"In short, your actions, which resulted in Lucas's death, occurred in a burst of anger that was inflamed by your indulgence in those two addictions."

McDonald has told a psychologist he suffers from significant anxiety and experiences regular nightmares in which he relives his offending.

Justice Kaye said if McDonald had not pleaded guilty to child homicide and spared Lucas's family the trauma of a contested court hearing, he would have imposed a sentence of 11 years with a non-parole period of nine years.