A prominent sportsman on trial in Dunedin for fracturing a baby’s ribs was worried he may have squeezed the child while burping him, witnesses say.
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.
This morning, a member of the baby's family said once she heard the child had fractured ribs, she came to visit him in hospital.
She said when she got there, the child’s mother made a “flippant remark” about the defendant squeezing the baby when 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 he was born and she had spoken with his mother about what the cause of his upset might be and suggested remedies.
She had not seen the defendant express anger at his upset.
The mother of the child had also expressed concern to another witness who knew the baby and his family.
The witness said the baby’s mother said: “[the defendant] was worried he could've squeezed [the baby] while burping him.”
The witness 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.”
The baby’s grandmother said she was concerned about how the child was handled by a midwife shortly after his birth.
She said the baby was picked up by his waist with no support around his head.
“I just thought it was a rough way of handling any child, any baby,” the witness said.
She said the baby did not like being put on his back and it would cause him to scream.
Judge David Robinson is presiding over the trial, which is expected to last at least two weeks.
