It sparkles as the epitome of a British seaside holiday that’s Blackpool for you, but all is not well in this northern tourist mecca. It’s the sort of crime killing your own child that makes people shiver with disbelief at how monstrous one person can be: a whole lifetime waiting to unfold for bright-eyed Damion Russell, two years old.
It happened on a perfectly ordinary summer day last August. Hardcastle denies having anything to do with it, saying he saw Damion on the floor near the coffee table motionless and unresponsive after a heart-stopping thud from that living room. Blood was spilling out of Damion mouth, a wave of panic ran over him. From my father’s desperation in googling CPR on YouTube to the human instinct a parent posses to save his child. Despite everything the doctors at Manchester Children’s Hospital could do, Damion succumbed to his injuries two long days later.
It became even more chilling when it was revealed that social services placed Damion with Hardcastle due to a troubled start in life. With the results of a paternity test in hand he was indeed her father, now facing full responsibility for parenting delayed development issues Hardcastle knew it only got harder from there. Yet through his trials and tribulations, a portrait of love is painted park trips, visits to the beach those unassuming moments that bind father and son together. There is, however, a dark underbelly.
A grim detail, however emerges on the said day. Hours before the tragedy, Hardcastle was making Internet searches about toddler bruises. He blames them on Damion having an unsteady gait and being prone to falling over. But that simple answer does not sit well, confused by the bruises on Damion’s tiny frame. In court, Hardcastle sobs as he claims the bruises are accidental and that there has been no foul play.
However, the prosecution sees it another way. In excruciating detail, they take apart exactly when and precisely how the Google searches took place a cue suggesting dirty deeds. The severity of Damion’s fever-related convulsion and history of multiple falls do dot help the issue. When paramedics arrived, that is the last thing Haber says she remembers doing before waking up again after being strangled by Hardcastle on a stretcher an assertion he denies.
His defense attorney, John Jones KC then throws him a lifeline by asking point blank: Did you make those bruises? Hardcastle’s solid “No” lingers, a last request for faith. BUT the jury’s work is not yet finished. They are the pilots in this tempest of oppositional stories, compelled to separate fact from fiction
As the trial goes on, we get further and further from Hardcastle’s description of events; what it appears he did, so far as young Willie’s concerned. There is just an emptiness ruled over by Damion’s ghost, serving as a constant reminder that childhood innocence need not be lost but instead indecently torn away. When it is delivered, the verdict will provide a measure of closure in a narrative marked by sorrow and an excruciating wait for justice.
