Rodney Clough pleads guilty to recklessly causing harm to nephew ‘Little Jimmy’

The man accused of submerging his nephew in boiling water, leaving him covered in burns, has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge on the eve of trial.

The man accused of submerging his nephew in boiling water has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge on the eve of trial.

Rodney David Clough, 42, was due to face a judge-alone trial after initially denying he assaulted the two-year-old boy when doctors found he was severely bruised and burned.

However, Benjamin Armstrong, for Clough, told the District Court on Monday that his client would be pleading guilty to aggravated recklessly causing harm.

The plea was accepted in full satisfaction by prosecution to aggravated causing harm with intent. A charge of criminal neglect was earlier dropped by prosecution.

Recklessness is a lower level of culpability than intention. It means that the accused person foresaw the possibility that actual bodily harm could be caused to another person but continued to act anyway.

Clough was arrested in August 2022 alongside his partner Emma Short after she took her son to a doctor’s surgery at Blair Athol wrapped in a towel and covered in burns.

Rodney David Clough pleaded guilty to recklessly causing harm. Picture: Facebook

Clough was originally charged with aggravated causing harm with intent. Picture: Facebook

Emma Short had the charges dropped against her in December 2022. Picture: Dean Martin

Little Jimmy was then rushed to hospital where a forensic pediatrician found it was not just burns he was covered with, but bruises as well.

The pediatrician also ruled the burns to Little Jimmy’s body were likely inflicted by being submerged in boiling water.

Little Jimmy spent 10 days in intensive care at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital before eventually being discharged.

The court previously heard Clough and Ms Short, who are brother and sister-in-law, were in a relationship at the time of the allegations.

As at the start of November, the court heard investigations were continuing into whether the boy had sustained any long-term brain injuries as a result of a lack of oxygen being delivered to his brain while he was submerged.

Prosecutors dropped all charges against Ms Short in December 2022 and a previous ban on her seeing her son was cancelled.

At the time, David Moen, for Ms Short, said his client had been subjected to a virtual witch hunt by the press.

On Monday, Judge Anthony Allen thanked counsel for their ongoing and persistent efforts to resolve the matter.

“Mr Clough, your plea of guilty today, in my view, is reflective of an acceptance of wrongdoing and in cases like this I accept that it’s very often difficult for people to put their hand up and accept that they’ve done the wrong thing,” he said.

“But your plea also facilitated the course of justice and you’ll receive appropriate credit for your plea of guilty in due course.”

The charge was adjourned for sentencing submissions in September.
*The Advertiser has chosen to use a pseudonym for the victim.