By Hannah Bartlett<\/p>\n
Warning: This story deals with the physical abuse of a baby and may be distressing.<\/p>\n
When a mother went away for the weekend, leaving her 8-week-old son with his father, there was nothing amiss with the boy.<\/p>\n
She left their family home in the Bay of Plenty on a Friday in 2023 to head to Starship children\u2019s hospital to support a relative whose child was ill.<\/p>\n
But when she returned home on Sunday, she quickly realised there was something wrong with her own baby, and took him to the emergency department at Whakat\u0101ne Hospital.<\/p>\n
Just hours after she\u00a0returned from Starship, her own little boy was heading there, having been intubated, stabilised and airlifted for emergency treatment.<\/p>\n
There, the baby was found to have\u00a0\u201cmultisystem trauma involving his head, chest, and abdomen\u201d.<\/p>\n
He had suffered a traumatic brain injury, 10 rib fractures and intra-abdominal injury, including liver laceration and internal bleeding. He also had abdominal wall bruising.<\/p>\n
The boy almost died from his injuries and medical experts say he will have \u201csevere lifelong impacts\u201d because of the brain injury.<\/p>\n
Father claimed injuries caused by toddler<\/p>\n
When spoken\u00a0to by police, the baby\u2019s father, who can\u2019t be named for legal reasons, said another child had fallen from the couch in the lounge on to the baby.<\/p>\n
He said he heard a thud, followed by crying, and when he went into the lounge, he observed the toddler getting off the baby.<\/p>\n
The man had also told the mother this account when he spoke to her on the phone about 9pm on Saturday, but he hadn\u2019t raised any concerns about the baby\u2019s health.<\/p>\n
The next day, when the mother spoke to the father on the phone again, about midday, she heard the baby was crying unusually.<\/p>\n
She travelled home from Auckland that afternoon and arrived to find the baby asleep in his father\u2019s arms.<\/p>\n
After greeting her other children, she returned her attention to her partner and the baby, and realised something was wrong.<\/p>\n
She took the baby to the emergency department, where he was assessed at 5.17pm. At 10pm, a Whakat\u0101ne doctor notified police of the baby\u2019s injuries.<\/p>\n
While at Starship, the baby underwent \u201csignificant paediatric treatment and assessment\u201d, and a Starship specialist paediatrician reported that each of his injuries could not have been caused by the toddler landing on him when falling off a couch.<\/p>\n
Nor could they, when taken together as an \u201centire constellation\u201d of injuries, be explained by the toddler landing on him.<\/p>\n
The doctor\u2019s view was that in the absence of another plausible explanation, the only reasonable explanation for all of the baby\u2019s injuries, when considered together, was that they were inflicted injuries.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is most likely he has been exposed to compression and impact forces on his torso, and inertial (acceleration-deceleration or whiplash-like) forces with or without impact to his head,\u201d the court summary of facts said.<\/p>\n
Judge Louis Bidois sentenced the man to prison.<\/p>\n
The doctor\u2019s view was that, based on a combination of the presence of brain swelling, absence of healing and the severity of symptoms, it was most likely the baby suffered his injuries in the hours to days before presenting at the hospital.<\/p>\n
\u2018Serious and significant lack or loss of quality of life\u2019<\/p>\n
The 30-year-old father earlier sought a sentence indication, which he accepted, and pleaded guilty to a charge of, with reckless disregard, causing grievous bodily harm to his son.<\/p>\n
When Judge Louis Bidois gave the man a sentence indication, the court hadn\u2019t been given an update as to the ongoing medical condition of the boy, and his future prognosis.<\/p>\n
Between the time of the indication, however, and this week\u2019s sentencing in the\u00a0Tauranga District Court, the judge received a medical update.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be a lifelong journey,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a serious and significant lack or loss of quality of life for that child. [You\u2019re] fortunate that I did not have that report at the time I gave the sentence indication, otherwise the start point would have been more like five years, rather than four and a half.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because the four-and-a-half-year starting point had been accepted by the defendant, the judge adopted it.<\/p>\n
The man\u2019s lawyer, Caitlin Gentleman, asked for discounts for the man\u2019s guilty plea and background factors.<\/p>\n
Reports provided to the court outlined the man\u2019s violent and dysfunctional upbringing, and his struggles with drug and alcohol addiction.<\/p>\n
Gentleman also highlighted the man\u2019s rehabilitative efforts, including doing counselling and the \u201cMan Up\u201d programme. She also asked for a month\u2019s adjustment for time spent on restrictive bail, when the man had not been able to have a parenting relationship with two of his children.<\/p>\n
Crown prosecutor Caitlin Bourke said the recent medical update \u201creally demonstrates the seriousness of the reality for the victim in this case\u201d.<\/p>\n
She accepted there were relevant mitigating background factors, particularly the man\u2019s exposure to violence, which had a \u201ccausal nexus\u201d with this offending.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s also accepted that [the defendant] has undertaken some rehabilitative efforts, noting that some of those were part of a sentence, so were essentially prescribed to him on his home detention sentence [for unrelated offending],\u201d Bourke said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it is also acknowledged that he has, on his own volition, undertaken the Man Up programme, for example, on a number of occasions.\u201d<\/p>\n
The judge said the aggravating features were the vulnerability of the young baby and the breach of trust, given the victim was the man\u2019s son.<\/p>\n
He applied a discount of 25% for his guilty plea, and a further global discount of 15% for rehabilitative efforts and background factors.<\/p>\n
That led to an end sentence of two years and eight months\u2019 imprisonment.<\/p>\n
Judge Bidois did not give a further allowance for the restrictive bail conditions, stating that the court needed to protect the other children in circumstances where \u201cserious harm\u201d had been caused to one.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
FAMILY VIOLENCE<\/p>\n
How to get help:\u00a0<\/p>\n
If you’re in danger now:\u00a0\u2022 Phone the police on 111 or ask neighbours or friends to ring for you.
\u2022 Run outside and head for where there are other people. Scream for help so your neighbours can hear you.
\u2022 Take the children with you. Don’t stop to get anything else.
\u2022 If you are being abused, remember it’s not your fault. Violence is never okay.<\/p>\n
Where to go for help or more information:<\/p>\n
\u2022\u00a0Women’s Refuge: Crisis line – 0800 REFUGE or 0800 733 843 (available 24\/7)
\u2022\u00a0Shine: Helpline – 0508 744 633 (available 24\/7)
\u2022\u00a0It’s Not Ok: Family violence information line – 0800 456 450
\u2022\u00a0Shakti: Specialist services for African, Asian and Middle Eastern women and children.
\u2022 Crisis line – 0800 742 584 (available 24\/7)
\u2022\u00a0Ministry of Justice: For information on family violence
\u2022\u00a0Te Kupenga Whakaoti Mahi Patunga: National Network of Family Violence Services
\u2022\u00a0White Ribbon: Aiming to eliminate men’s violence towards women.
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