A 20-year-old Putaruru man hurled his infant son across a room because of his grizzling during a rugby match on television, a murder trial in the High Court at Auckland was told yesterday.
Matthew Ono Leonard Iorangi is on trial for the murder of Pirimai Simmonds, aged 17 months.
The toddler suffered
a massive skull fracture and died in the Starship children's hospital in Auckland when his life support machine was switched off.
Iorangi's lawyer, Paul Dacre, told the jury that what the accused did was inexcusable, but it was a case of manslaughter, not murder, because there was no murderous intent.
Earlier, Jonathan Temm, representing the Crown with Amanda Gordon, told the court that in his anger and frustration Iorangi threw the child across the room when he could not stop him crying as he tried to watch the Otago versus Taranaki game on Sky.
His partner, Misty Simmonds, was having a shower when the incident occurred at their isolated house on the Pikitu Marae at Waotu, 25km northwest of Tokoroa, on October 17 last year. It had been a busy day and by 8.30 pm the child was weary.
Mr Temm said that Iorangi had become increasingly annoyed at Pirimai's constant grizzling.
During the second half of the game, his anger and frustration bubbled to the point where he struck the boy in the lower back, fracturing a rib.
Mr Temm said the post-mortem examination showed that Pirimai was also struck in the abdomen, causing liver and kidney damage.
By this stage, said Mr Temm, the toddler was inconsolable. Iorangi's frustration boiled over, and he lifted Pirimai and threw him across the room.
The child flew about 4m through the air, smashing his head against a wall and the floor, causing a 22.5cm-long skull fracture.
A neighbour took Pirimai in his vehicle to Tokoroa Hospital, but he was transferred by helicopter that night to the Starship.
However, his injuries were non-survivable, said Mr Temm. He was declared brain-dead and his life support machine was switched off.
