Baby injuries linked to violence
SEVERAL of baby Rose-Marie Williams's injuries could have been caused by violent shaking and some were unlikely to be accidental, according to witnesses.
Mackay
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SEVERAL of baby Rose-Marie Williams’s injuries could have been caused by violent shaking and some were unlikely to be accidental, according to medical witnesses.
Three doctors from Townsville Hospital yesterday gave evidence at the trial of Mark Albert Shoesmith, 30, who is charged with one count of manslaughter against the three-month-old he claimed to be the father of.
Pediatric radiologist Dr Anthony Lamont assessed the infant’s X-rays and scans after she was airlifted from Proserpine Hospital on December 9, 2007, with a “large skull fracture”.
He said the head injury was not from a simple fall.
“It is a star-shaped fracture... due to some kind of blow,” he said.
“In order to get that
extent of damage I would expect a very substantial amount of force.”
Her brain damage, seen on a CT scan, was claimed to be “the result of a swirling type injury”’ and could be due to “shaking-up of the brain”, he said.
Intensive care consultant Dr Emma Hothersall, who treated the infant in the hospital’s emergency department, said the brain injuries were so severe surgery was not an option.
Rose-Marie’s life support was switched off five days after she was admitted to hospital by Shoesmith and the 17-year-old mother. Forensic pathologist, Dr David Williams, who did an autopsy on the baby, listed her cause of death as “non-accidental”.
The Townsville Supreme Court jury, in front of Justice Kerry Culinane, has previously heard the infant is believed to have received a blow to the skull and may have been shaken, plus it is alleged she had “a number of other injuries that tell a tale of abuse”.
The trial continues today and is expected to run until next Tuesday.
Originally published as Baby injuries linked to violence
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