An expert says somebody knows what happened to a child with 13 broken ribs said to be 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 applied 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 offered other explanations, including the baby’s severe vitamin D deficiency causing him to fracture easily, the injuries being caused at birth or the fractures being caused through unsafe co-sleeping.
Yesterday, Starship Hospital paediatric radiologist Dr Russell Metcalfe, who has spent more than 30 years in the field of paediatric radiology, told the jury he disagreed with those explanations.
A defence witness said because there was no evidence of an abusive adult being in charge of the baby, inflicted injury was an unlikely explanation.
Dr Metcalfe said it was the opposite and could be "suspicious".
"It is extremely rare for an abuser to admit causing an injury," he said.
He said the infant would have been supervised at all times because of his young age and no explanation for the injuries was offered.
Because of this, someone would know about what happened to the child.
"If a child is being looked after by two caregivers, then one of them knows what has happened," he said.
Counsel Anne Stevens KC suggested the injuries could have been caused earlier and the baby’s severe vitamin D deficiency caused a delay in the fractures healing.
"In my experience that’s unheard of," the witness said.
"It all sounds very bizarre and that’s not an accepted medical [idea]."
The witness did not believe the fractures could have been caused at birth and not healed properly.
"These fractures are not from normal handling of the child, so there’s been some external force," he said.
"You’ve got multiple rib fractures in a row ... They’re not birth injuries."
Dr Metcalfe said "significant force" would have been required to cause the injuries.
"And I would say because of the linearity of the fractures it’s [from] squeezing."
The fractures were "almost certainly the result of abusive trauma", he said.
The trial, before Judge David Robinson, continues today.
