Man jailed for manslaughter of six-week-old son in Fulwood
Peter Sayle will spend 9 years and 11 months in prison
Last updated 12th Feb 2026
A man has been sentenced to over 9 years in prison, after admitted killing his baby son in Fulwood.
Police were called to Squires Wood in June 2022, to a report six-week-old baby Huxley Sayle had been taken to Royal Preston Hospital unresponsive and with a head injury.
He was later transferred to Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital.
Despite the best efforts of medical personnel, Huxley’s injuries were too severe to be compatible with life and treatment was withdrawn a few weeks later.
Huxley’s father Peter Sayle was arrested at his home on suspicion of Section 18 Wounding.
During the police interview, he denied any wrongdoing, stating that injuries caused would have been a result of him performing CPR on Huxley.
But medical experts at the children’s hospital concluded Huxley had suffered a number of skull and brain injuries.
The author of the report indicated that those injuries would have resulted in immediate symptoms and were consistent with Huxley having been violently shaken.
A Home Office postmortem examined later established that baby Huxley’s cause of death was traumatic head injury, and that no natural disease had caused his traumatic collapse.
An examination of Sayle’s phone, found a number of concerning web searched that had been made shortly after Huxley’s birth. These included: “tips to deal with frustration and anger”, “baby crying makes me angry dad”, and “I’m getting so angry when baby won’t sleep”.
On the fifth day of trial at Preston Crown Court, Sayle, 32, now of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to Huxley’s manslaughter. That plea was acceptable to the prosecution.
DCI Andy Fallows, of our Force Major Investigation Team, said:
“I welcome the manslaughter plea put forward by Peter Sayle. After three and a half years of denials he has finally admitted that he is responsible for assaulting and causing baby Huxley’s death.
“While this has been a particularly sensitive and challenging case, my investigation team’s relentless focus has always been on achieving justice for baby Huxley. Today we have managed to achieve that.”
An NSPCC spokesperson said: “Peter Sayle should have been there to love and protect this little baby. Instead, after losing his temper, he carried out a brutal assault which directly led to his son’s death."
"Our thoughts are with Huxley’s family and all those impacted by this tragedy. Babies and young children are particularly vulnerable to abuse because they are completely reliant on the adults around them for care and protection."
"Free advice is available around the clock on the NSPCC website to any parent or carer who finds themselves struggling while looking after a child, and the NSPCC Helpline is available on 0808 8005000 to anyone concerned about a child. Anyone worried about a child's immediate safety should phone 999."