WARNING: This story details significant and fatal child abuse.
A Christchurch man who murdered his 3-month-old daughter, inflicting months of violence on her before the fatal attack, was also facing charges of deliberately causing grievous bodily harm to another baby.
Michael John Topp was jailed for life with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years after he was found guilty of murdering his 3-month-old daughter in December 2022.
He admitted causing the fatal injuries but denied the charge of murder, saying he did not intend to kill the baby.
He also denied three further counts of causing his baby grievous bodily harm with intent.
After a trial in the High Court at Christchurch, a jury found him guilty of murder.
Today, the Herald can reveal Topp was also facing charges of assaulting a 3-month-old boy six years earlier.
Suppression orders have prevented the details of the charges from being published until now.
Court documents claimed that on at least two occasions in 2016, Topp intentionally caused grievous bodily harm to the infant.
During the first alleged assault, the 3-month-old suffered a fracture to his right upper arm.
During the second, Topp allegedly caused multiple fractures to the baby’s thigh and shin bones. The second charge was representative, meaning police believe Topp committed multiple offences of the same type in similar circumstances.
The charges relating to the baby boy were initially going to be heard at Topp’s murder trial, but the two cases were severed into two separate prosecutions.
After he was convicted of murder in July 2024, the Crown opted not to proceed with the second prosecution.
In September 2024, the Crown referred the outstanding charges to Deputy Solicitor-General Madeleine Laracy, who recommended the proceedings be stayed.
The effect of a stay is that no further steps can be taken in the criminal proceeding unless the Attorney-General lifts the order, which is rare.
In October 2024, Laracy told the High Court: “In the circumstances of this case, I have decided to stay these proceedings on the basis that, as Mr Topp has been convicted of the murder of [his daughter] and sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum period of 17 years, pursuing the current proceedings would serve no worthwhile purpose.
“To the extent the defendant is convicted of these crimes and subject to this sentence, it appears that as a matter of public interest, the ends of justice will best be served if further proceedings on the following charges are stayed.
“I record that the stay may be lifted, if it appears that as a matter of public interest, the ends of justice will no longer be served by staying the criminal charges, including because the defendant’s conviction for the murder of [his daughter] is quashed, or his sentence is materially reduced on appeal.”
The mother of the baby boy assaulted in 2016 told the Herald she was relieved the court process was finally over and she supported the stay.
“I met with the Crown and they told me what they were considering and asked me what I wanted to do,” she said.
“I said, ‘I don’t want to do it’. I went to court and I watched [the baby girl’s mother] go through that… she is the strongest person, but I just could not sit there and do what she did.
“It also probably would have been a jury trial, and I didn’t want a group of random people deciding what happened to my baby – I know what happened.”
The woman said she also considered Topp’s life sentence adequate.
“Even if he was convicted of the charges for my son, it wouldn’t add anything to his sentence,” she said.
“If he was going to get another 20 years and we could keep him locked up for longer – let’s do it. But that wasn’t going to happen.”
She was heartbroken for the woman who lost her child.
“I’m just thankful my children are alive,” she said.
After Topp was sentenced for murder in 2024, he took his case to the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court.
Justice Cameron Mander made an order suppressing the details of the charges and the stay until those appeals were complete.
The Supreme Court dismissed the second appeal last week and today the information can finally be made public.
Topp continues to deny responsibility for his daughter’s fatal injuries and has claimed the baby’s mother had more opportunity to inflict them.
The infant’s name and the name of her mother have been permanently suppressed. Police have never alleged that the mother was responsible for the injuries.
Anna Leask is a senior journalist who covers national crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2008 and has worked as a journalist for 20 years with a particular focus on family and gender-based violence, child abuse, sexual violence, homicides, mental health and youth crime. She writes, hosts and produces the award-winning podcast A Moment In Crime, released monthly on nzherald.co.nz