A prominent sportsman on trial for serious family violence was “shocked” to hear of an infant’s injuries, according to his police statement.
The man, accused of crushing the baby’s ribs in July 2023, had his police statement read to the Dunedin District Court this morning.
The Crown argued the injuries were not intentional but were reckless, and that a squeezing movement around the torso of the victim was an unreasonable risk requiring “significant force”.
X-rays conducted when the victim was taken to Dunedin Hospital showed at least a dozen rib fractures and a broken clavicle.
The sportsman’s charge of injury with reckless disregard carried a maximum penalty of seven years’ imprisonment.
He faced an alternative charge of assaulting a person in a family relationship.
In his statement today, the defendant said he hugged and tried to burp the child on July 16, 2023 when alone with the infant, and that he thought the child was hungry but the child would not take a bottle.
He said he placed the child back in a bassinet until the mother returned home.
This is the day the Crown alleged the child was injured.
His statement said he and the child’s mother were both “confused” by the injuries when radiology results came back, and that he was “shocked”.
“Nothing sticks out that I can think of” he said, when considering a cause of the injuries.
“I understand the seriousness of the injuries.”
He said the dogs at the baby’s home were “very gentle with the children” and, when describing his own connection to the child, he said “I usually give him lots of cuddles”.
The jury was shown photos of where the baby lived and the baby’s mother.
In cross-examination, Constable Bo Seong Kim said he had not read the defendant the Bill of Rights, or his right to a lawyer when the first statement was taken, because it was “a very early stage” and police had “an open mind”.
He said all of the defendant’s statements were voluntary at that point and police were “exploring many possibilities”.
Kim said part of the statement was taken on July 25, 2023, and another part on July 27 because his computer battery ran out the first time.
He was the file manager for the case.
A radiologist who assessed x-rays of the infant said, “if you put your fingers on his chest”, you could feel a “crackly” feeling.
Radiology results showed this was from broken ribs grating against each other.
“That was very apparent on the ultrasound,” the radiologist said.
Judge David Robinson has continued the defendant’s interim name suppression.