One of the two people who could be responsible for killing baby Soul Turany has a history of troubled relationships and was served with a protection order, it can now be revealed.
The 16-week-old boy suffered catastrophic head injuries some time on the morning of 30 August 2014 and died in Christchurch Hospital the following day.
The assault broke Soul's skull in two places and caused bleeding to a vast tract of his brain and one eye.
Police say either the boy's mother Storme Turany or her then-partner Tony Farmer must have inflicted the injuries at the rural home they shared near Darfield.
Both denied harming Soul.
Coroner Ian Telford heard that Farmer had been accused of being angry and abusive in previous relationships and had a criminal history for breaching a protection order, which can now be reported as a result of an amended suppression order.
At the two-week-long inquest, lawyer for police Olivia Welsh questioned Farmer about his relationship with the mother of his child.
The woman and their child have name suppression.
"Would you accept that during your relationship you were angry and verbally abusive?" Welsh asked.
"Yep," Farmer responded.
"Lashed out at her when things weren't going well?" Welsh continued.
"Yes, but within certain contexts, yes," Farmer said.
"And she describes you as being jealous of [their child] and the time [they were] occupying in your relationship, do you agree with that?" Welsh asked.
"No, I wouldn't say that's true," Farmer said.
The woman was granted a protection order against him.
"This is where it gets tricky because she had a protection order but we stayed together, so not particularly," he responded.
"You don't agree that was the reason for her getting it?" Welsh asked.
"I guess for the verbal abuse of us arguing and me sending abusive texts is a reason for her to get it but at the same time she also stayed in contact with me to want to get back in a relationship with me and we moved up to Christchurch together in that period," Farmer said.
Police also spoke to another woman with whom Farmer had a relationship before meeting Turany.
"Police went and had a talk to her about her experience in her relationship with you. She talks about you getting angry and yelling a lot," Welsh said.
"It says there's nights she didn't want to come home to you because you were so angry."
Farmer said the woman had never said that to him.
Welsh continued reading from her statement to police: "She says he never hit me but it felt like he could because he was so angry".
"So would you agree that sounds like she's scared of you?" Welsh asked.
"I guess but we didn't argue that much," Farmer responded.
Soul was conceived following a one-night stand with a worker on the farm managed by Turany's sister and brother-in-law and where Turany also worked at the time.
She was only 21.
Turany and Farmer met on the dating app Tinder just over a month after Soul's birth.
The couple soon spent nights together at Turany's sister's home before moving into a farmer's house on the dairy farm.
Turany and Farmer had been living with Soul at the home for about a month when he was injured.
The coroner heard there had been several verbal arguments between Turany and Farmer.
On one occasion Turany claimed that Farmer had broken a television although he disputed her version of events.
Welsh asked Farmer if his previous relationships provided a clue as to what happened to Soul.
"You've had these issues in your previous relationships and these are the relationships immediately before meeting Storme, correct?" Welsh pressed.
"Yep," Farmer responded.
"And then we've seen you're now having these similar difficulties in your relationship with Storme. You'd agree there's these series of arguments with Storme?" Welsh asked.
"Yep," Farmer responded.
"No," Farmer said.
He was also questioned about the relationships by Turany's sister Skye Lamborn, who had interested party status at the inquest and was entitled to question witnesses.
"Had you informed Storme about your protection orders?" Lamborn asked.
"I recall telling both of you. You and Storme, in your garage," Farmer responded.
"I don't recall that, but okay," Lamborn said.
The officer in charge of the investigation Detective Superintendent Darryl Sweeney told the inquest Farmer's previous relationships were considered by investigators.
"It's important to note that Mr Farmer has a New Zealand criminal history for breach of protection order and that he has a child from a previous relationship. Extensive inquiries were undertaken as to the nature of these convictions, the relationship and care of his child," he told the coroner.
"Factually whilst this was observed in terms of evidence or propensity, I consider it was a factor but objectively I don't consider this to be evidence in this matter other than as a matter of concern about his background that was considered."
Statements and text messages from those relationships have been entered as evidence in the coroner's inquiry into Soul's death.
Sweeney also outlined why police did not lay charges against Turany or Farmer.
"I'm satisfied the injury sustained by Soul was inflicted by another person and that because only two other persons were present at the time of the infliction of the injury, one of them must logically be the offender," he said.
"After all investigative techniques were exhausted, on the current facts police are not in a position to initiate criminal proceedings in line with the Solicitor-General's prosecution guidelines. That could change at any time if new information came to the attention of this investigation."
The inquest adjourned on Friday.
