Shock end to Ipswich trial of man accused of baby assault

There’s been a shocking end to the Ipswich trial of a father who allegedly assaulted his newborn baby.

JURY VERDICT

A man accused of shaking a baby until it collapsed and stopped breathing has been acquitted by a jury earlier today.

The jury spent over four hours deliberating and reviewing evidence in the case against the man, who was accused of assaulting his newborn boy.

In 2017 the man had his mum call triple-0 when the eight-week-old boy collapsed and stopped breathing.

The man had been alone with the baby and successfully performed CPR while his mum relayed instructions from emergency operators.

Later tests showed the baby had suffered brain and eye bleeds.

Forensic paediatrician Dr Catherine Skellern told the court the injury was most consistent with forceful trauma to the head.

However, forensic pathologist Dr Johan Duflou said heat stress from an earlier car trip may have led to complications and noted there was no visible trauma to the baby’s head.

It was also heard the father ‘jiggled’ the baby while it was restless.

Crown prosecutor Ryder Reid told the jury they did not have to be a medical expert to know heat stress did not lead to brain trauma and the theory had “the floor pulled out from underneath it’’ as tests showed no sign of heat stress.

But the man’s legal counsel, Mr Kennedy, also told the court something may have happened to the child earlier in the day to cause the injury – whether that be while with his mother, brother or grandmother.

Mr Reid referred to the defence’s multiple ‘narratives’ as a red herring approach, although Magistrate Peter Saggers told the jurors there had been no allegation of deceit on behalf of the crown after the man’s counsel took offence to the phrase.

The jury was told by the man’s counsel it was up to them to clear the man’s name and they were the last hope of a fair and just society.

After the five day trial, the jury returned to say they could not, without a reasonable doubt, convict the man of assault occasioning bodily harm.

EARLIER THIS WEEK

DAY 4 OF TRIAL:

New evidence suggesting “heat stress” could have contributed to a baby’s injuries has been brought before an Ipswich court on the fourth day of a trial of a man accused of assaulting his infant son.

The man’s counsel, Mr Kennedy, called on forensic pathologist Johan Duflou to explain potential causes of injuries sustained by the eight-week-old baby in 2017.

Dr Duflou gave evidence in Ipswich District Court via video link on Thursday.

He said that while a number of “minor abnormalities” were discovered in the boy, most had no relevance to the case or would have resulted from his collapse.

He said he would not exclude the possibility the infant’s injuries resulted from him being shaken, but there was “no indication” he was struck to the head or that his head struck a surface.

When questioned about the likelihood of the baby developing heat stress from sitting in a car hours before the collapse, Dr Duflou said that it was possible.

“Any child left in a hot environment can certainly result in significant effect on that child,” he said.

He said heat stress could potentially lead to abnormalities and blood clotting, but acknowledged the infant was not diagnosed with heat stress at the time.

The liver abnormalities detected in the child could however have been a “manifestation” of heat stress, he said, and were unlikely to have resulted from inflicted force.

He told the court bleeding in the baby’s eyes would have more likely been associated with the rotation of his head than with impact.

“It’s possible that the collapse occurred as a result of injuries sustained,” he said.

“(They) could be the result of force applied to the infant, probably in the form of shaking.”

He said other possibilities were that the baby’s injuries were not the result of trauma at all, but of an unexplained cause or a range of abnormalities including a raised temperature.

DAY 2 OF TRIAL:

The trial for a man accused of assaulting his newborn baby in 2017 has continued, with the court hearing from the baby’s brother and maternal grandmother, a foster carer, a critical care paramedic and a forensic paediatrician who treated the boy.

Queensland Children’s Hospital forensic paediatrician Dr Catherine Skellern was called on to give evidence by phone as the trial entered its second day.

Dr Skellern told the court she treated the eight-week-old baby three times, on the 4th, 5th and 7th of February, 2017.

She said CAT scans and other neuroimaging scans showed the baby had bleeding above its brain and examinations showed retinal haemorrhages in its eyes.

She said there was no evidence of skull fractures or swelling but that a part of the brain had been injured due to a lack of blood flow.

This was evidence of the baby experiencing some kind of trauma, she said.

“(There was) lots of bleeding ... quite extensive haemorrhaging (in the eyes),” she said.

“Too many (haemorrhages) to be able to count them.”

She said the baby also tested positive for whooping cough but was asymptomatic.

She said the injuries the baby had supported the view of a “traumatic” event immediately preceding the symptom of apnoea, when it stopped breathing.

There was “extensive” literature (supporting the fact) that the presence of apnoea immediately follows an application of force, she said.

However, Dr Skellern did say it was possible that this force could have occurred earlier and that the symptoms were delayed.

She said she thinks the baby suffered some type of force immediately before it stopped breathing and it was “unlikely” it was a delayed reaction to a previous impact, but could not completely rule that out.

The court also heard from the baby’s maternal grandmother, who spent time caring for the baby the morning of the incident, before the baby’s mother drove him to Goodna.

The grandmother said she had the baby for a couple of hours and had bathed him, put him to bed in a loungeroom under a fan, and that he seemed “fine.”

A foster carer, who cared for the baby’s older half-brother for a short period after the incident, told the court she supervised a phone call between the boy and his mother, and heard him say “... do we have to keep the secret about (the baby).”

She said she did not hear the mother’s response.

The court was closed while the jury heard evidence from the baby’s brother.

DAY 1 OF TRIAL:

A man is standing trial over the alleged assault of his newborn baby after the eight-week-old boy stopped breathing and was found to have bleeding in his eyes and above his brain one night in 2017.

The man, who cannot be named to protect the baby’s identity, pleaded not guilty on Monday to one charge of assault occasioning bodily harm.

The Ipswich District Court heard the boy was eight weeks old when he stopped breathing and needed to be resuscitated on the night of February 3, 2017.

Crown prosecutor Ryder Reid alleged the baby’s father applied some kind of force resulting in injuries which caused the boy to stop breathing.

Mr Reid said the baby was at his paternal grandmother’s home, where his father lived, and was allegedly alone with the father in his bedroom before he stopped breathing and went limp.

The court heard the baby’s mother was out with another of her children, getting him dinner at the time.

The man called his mother for help and he performed CPR while she rang Triple 0.

An audio recording of the Triple 0 call was played to the jury.

“Please hurry, it’s an eight week old baby,” the baby’s grandmother said on the call.

“ … hardly breathing, he’s not breathing.”

The baby’s mother sobbed in the back of the courtroom as she listened to the recording, first hearing the dispatcher’s instructions to the father and then the baby gasping, crying and screaming as he was revived.

The baby’s mother had arrived back to the Goodna home with her other son shortly after the baby was resuscitated, and in her evidence she told the court she was greeted outside by father holding the baby and saying he had done CPR.

Paramedics arrived within minutes and assessed the baby before rushing him to Queensland Children’s Hospital, then called Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital.

Tests and scans revealed the baby had multiple haemorrhages in the subarachnoid layer, meaning there was bleeding above his brain.

The baby also had retinal haemorrhages, or bleeding in his eyes, and there were problems with his blood flow to the brain.

The baby’s mother told the court she had driven him and his older half-brother to Goodna from Jandowae that afternoon, and it had been a hot day but she stopped five times, checking on the baby and giving him water.

She said the baby had seemed “normal” throughout the day, aside from being sweaty and “sooky” at times.

The baby’s grandmother also gave evidence and said the newborn had been upset that day, but she thought it was because it was a “very hot day”.

She said the baby was crying more than normal and would not settle.

The grandmother also told the court she had “never” seen her son behave aggressively, angrily or violently towards his children.

“(He) does not believe in hitting,” she said.

“ … never ever hit them.”

Paramedics who were first responders at the scene that night told the court the baby’s vitals and responses improved before he was transported to hospital.

Mr Reidsaid as the trial continued the court would also hear from a forensic paediatrician.

He said her “expert” opinion was that the baby’s injuries and breathing problems were caused by an application of force, likely immediately before the baby stopped breathing.