A midwife says she never saw any bruises on a baby with more than a dozen rib fractures, said to have been caused by a prominent sportsman.
The man, who has interim name suppression, is on trial in the Dunedin District Court after he pleaded not guilty to wounding with reckless disregard and an alternative charge of assault.
The Crown case is that the defendant inflicted a squeezing or crushing force to the child’s torso during a moment of frustration while the infant’s mother was at the gym in July 2023, but the defence has argued there are other explanations for the injuries.
Yesterday, the mother’s midwife gave evidence that nothing unusual was detected during her routine checks of the baby.
She stripped the baby to weigh him on numerous occasions after he was born and said she never noticed any bruises or injuries.
The witness also had not noticed the “cracking and popping” noises described by the mother before she took the child into hospital.
The baby’s mother told the midwife about the child’s injuries.
“I have no idea what happened to [the baby]. I was bowled over. I think [the parents] were as well,” the midwife said.
The baby’s mother had also spoken to the midwife about co-sleeping and discussed options for how to do this safely.
A picture of the infant and his mother co-sleeping was shown to the jury and the witness said the position the baby was in was not recommended.
“There’s several issues with that,” the midwife said.
Earlier yesterday, the jury heard from a family member who said the child’s mother made a “flippant remark” about the defendant squeezing the child while burping him.
“Both of us dismissed it straight away,” the witness said.
“There were theories getting thrown everywhere.
“Any parent would be desperately trying to find out what happened to their child … all of us were just desperately looking for an answer.”
She had also heard that the defendant had thrown a wheat-bag at a wall in a moment of frustration, leaving a hole.
The witness had not seen the defendant be violent towards the baby.
She said the child had been inconsolable since birth and she had spoken to the mother about what the cause of such upset might be and suggested remedies.
She had not seen the defendant express anger over the baby.
The mother of the child had also expressed concern to another witness, who knew the baby and the family.
The witness said the baby’s mother said: “[the defendant] was worried he could’ve squeezed [the baby] while burping him.”
She also knew about the defendant causing the hole in the wall, but said he was not violent.
“It’s laughable to even think that that man could be violent,” she said.
“If for any reason I thought that he had hurt [the baby], I would not have stayed silent.”
Judge David Robinson is presiding over the trial, which is expected to last at least two weeks.