A 15-YEAR-old boy died as a result of health issues he suffered throughout his life from being ‘shaken as a baby’, an inquest has heard.

Liam Murphy had severe quadriplegic cerebral palsy after he was subjected to abuse by his father when he was just weeks old.

Liam also suffered from scoliosis, epilepsy, was fed through a tube, and had needed assistance to breath, as well as other disorders, an inquest into his death at Winchester Coroner’s Court on Tuesday was told.

He was born three weeks prematurely on August 4, 2001, but doctors grew suspicious when he was taken to hospital twice in the three months following his birth.

But the most severe injuries were found after doctors at Southampton General Hospital examined baby Liam after he was admitted on October 18, 2001 when he had stopped breathing.

Acting Sergeant Giulio Pizzo, of Hampshire police’s child abuse investigation team, told the inquest that Liam had suffered fractures to his rib, right humerus, tibia, and metatarsal.

An investigation was launched, and it was found the injuries were “more commonly associated with baby shaking”.

At the time of the incidents Liam and his family were living in Andover.

In 2002 Liam father’s Baron Murphy, now Grainger, was convicted of grievous bodily harm and was sentenced to 12 years in prison, serving eight, following a trial at Winchester Crown Court.

His mother Shona Sherrington was given a two-year community order for neglect.

When Liam was discharged from hospital, he was looked after by his grandparents and was later transferred to Naomi House hospice because of the amount of care he needed.

He remained there, and in the days leading up to his death at the age of 15 Liam suffered three seizures and had a chest infection, which eventually led to his death on July 7, 2017.

A post-mortem found that Liam died of bronco pneumonia, immobilisation respiratory insufficiency and quadriplegic cerebral palsy with scoliosis and seizure.

Pathologist Basil Purdue said: “There is a clear causal link between his injuries at the very early stage of his life and his death 15 years later.”

It was considered by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) whether new charges should be brought against Mr Grainger in relation to Liam’s death.

But Acting Sergeant Pizzo said: “The CPS decided that there was no case to answer, in effect, and it was largely on the grounds of public interest. It was deemed that if Mr Grainger were to be charged, he would not be sentenced to significantly more than he already had served.”

Mr Grainger could have been charged with murder, the inquest heard.

Senior coroner Grahame Short concluded that Liam’s death was as a result of an unlawful killing.