25 years in prison for death of 3-year-old

(CS/DL) A man found guilty of injuring his partner's son, eventually leading to the child's death, is to be jailed for 25 years after a decision made by the Luxembourg Court of Appeal on Wednesday.

The incident dates back to 2008, when a three-year-old boy died after having been punched or kicked in the head. While the suspect repeatedly denied the accusation that he had beaten the child, claiming instead that the boy had fallen, medical evidence contradicted his statement, showing severe head injuries.

The 32-year-old man was first served a 25-year prison sentence in January 2011, a verdict which was confirmed by the Court of Appeal in November of the same year.

However, because the suspect did not attend the trial he was allowed to file another appeal.

The man had been able to escape the country because he holds dual US and Portuguese nationality. While authorities confiscated his Portuguese passport he travelled to the US with his other ID.

In January, the man was caught in a police control, who found that an international arrest warrant had been issued against him. He was then extradited to Luxembourg.