Crown prosecutor Richard Smith in an opening address this morning told the jury it was the Crown’s contention that the defendant assaulted the infant by squeezing or “applying some sort of crushing force” to its torso, resulting in 13 rib fractures.
He said it was not the Crown case the defendant intentionally inflicted those injuries, rather that he deliberately applied force, and in doing so recklessly caused an injury.
“Reckless essentially means to take a reasonable risk. To recognise that your actions could cause harm and to proceed anyway,” Smith said.
The Crown alleged that on the day of the incident, the mother left home early in the morning while the baby was asleep, leaving it with the defendant, though it woke shortly after.
The defendant tried to settle the infant, including unsuccessfully by bottle feeding, Smith said.
Later that morning, the mother phoned the defendant, who told her he was unable to settle the infant.
When the mother returned home, she found the baby crying in his bassinet and the defendant elsewhere.
Days later, the infant was sent to the Emergency Department for a suspected fracture.
“Ultimately, at least a dozen rib fractures were observed,” Smith said.
The Crown alleged that while in his care, the defendant lost his patience and squeezed the infant with enough force to cause those injuries.
Defence counsel Anne Stevens KC told the jury that despite intensive police investigation, including three interviews of the defendant, which he voluntarily participated in, police surveillance of phone calls, and interviews with his friends and others, there was no evidence of wrongdoing.
Stevens said the Crown allegation stemmed from a radiologist’s diagnosis of multiple fractures, but that fractures in an infant were not diagnostic of abuse.
The lawyer said there were several other possibilities as to the cause of the fractures, including the infant’s severe vitamin D deficiency.
She said genetic testing could not rule out the underlying possibility of a soft-bone-density disorder, and that not a great deal of force would be required to cause the observed injuries.
The Crown said over the coming days, jurors would hear from a number of witnesses, including the infant’s mother, friends, family, neighbours, medical experts, and police officers.
The trial continues.
Ben Tomsett is a multimedia journalist based in Dunedin. He joined the Herald in 2023.
