High-profile sportsman not guilty of causing infant’s injuries after Dunedin trial

The jury has reached a verdict in the trial of a high-profile sportsman in the Dunedin District Court. Photo / George Heard

A jury has found a high-profile sportsman not guilty of causing injuries to an infant.

The jury at Dunedin District Court unanimously found the defendant not guilty of two charges; injuring with reckless disregard and assault.

Judge David Robinson accepted the jury’s verdict after a nearly four-hour deliberation on Monday afternoon following a three-week trial.

The public gallery was packed with the defendant’s friends and family, as well as the infant’s mother, who sobbed throughout proceedings.

The defendant, who continues to have name suppression, closed his eyes and gasped as the foreperson confirmed the decision.

Members of the public gallery collectively gasped and were visibly emotional as the foreperson read the verdict.

Following the verdict, the defendant embraced the infant’s mother as both sobbed.

The trial followed allegations from the medical community that the defendant was responsible for causing the infant’s 13 broken ribs.

Throughout the trial, the jury heard from a range of medical experts who explained the baby’s bones appeared normal and the pattern of fractures could only be explained by force, rejecting defence suggestions of rickets or general bone fragility.

The Crown alleged the infant suffered 13 rib fractures while in the defendant’s care, consistent with compressive force.

The defence maintained the injuries could be explained by underlying medical issues, vitamin deficiency or benign causes, and that the defendant did not harm the child.

The defendant was released by the court, with Judge Robinson commending him for his conduct throughout the trial.

“I wish you all the very best,” he said.

Outside the court, a friend of the defendant and the infant’s mother told the media: “Thank f**k for that.”

Ben Tomsett is a multimedia journalist based in Dunedin. He joined the Herald in 2023.