A paediatrician has told the trial of a man charged with seriously assaulting his five-month-old daughter that when the child was admitted to hospital doctors found she had suffered bruising to her face, chest, abdomen and right buttock, a fractured collar bone, blood on the surface of the brain and tearing of its connective fibres.
The 31-year-old accused is on trial at Cork Circuit Criminal Court having pleaded not guilty to three charges. The man, who cannot be named to protect the identity of the child, previously entered a not guilty plea to a charge of causing serious harm to his five-month-old daughter on 4 January 2021.
He also pleaded not guilty to a charge of assault causing harm to his daughter on dates between 25 November and 15 December 2020, and with wilfully assaulting or ill-treating the child in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering to the child's health or seriously affect the child’s wellbeing.
Dr Rosina McGovern, who is a consultant paediatrician at Cork University Hospital, said that when the child was brought to hospital on the evening of 4 January 2021, she was "lethargic" and "drowsy". Her parents told medical staff that their young daughter had been vomiting and was not tolerating fluids.
It was noted that she "poor head control" and was "very quiet". In addition to bruising an X ray indicated that the baby had sustained a fractured collar bone which was "healing." The child had bleeding in the eyes.
Dr McGovern said an MRI showed that the young girl had blood on the surface of her brain and the tearing of the fibres of the brain. She said that the parents did not give an explanation for the injuries the child had sustained.
Dr McGovern told Judge Dermot Sheehan and the jury that children under the age of six months rarely suffer from bruising arising out of their lack of mobility. The child was found to have "no underlying medical condition" to explain her injuries.
Dr McGovern stated that the fracture of the collar bone on such a young child was also "unusual" given her young age. Blood was found on the spine of the child from the top of the neck to the lower back.
She said that the child spent from 4 January to 18 January 2021 in hospital. The court heard that that on 5 January 2021 the child was found to have a score of nine out of fifteen on the Glasgow Coma Scale.
The scale is used to objectively describe the extent of impaired consciousness in all types of acute medical and trauma patients. Under cross examination by defence barrister Ray Boland, Dr Govern said that a score of nine means that a patient is "quite impaired in terms of a brain injury". She told the jury that a score of less than eight generally involves placing a patient in intensive care.
Dr McGovern said that it was her belief that the child had sustained "serious harm". Prosecution barrister Jane Hyland said that in Irish law serious harm is defined as an injury that creates a substantial risk of death or causes serious disfigurement or substantial loss or impairment of mobility of the body or function of a bodily member or organ.
Meanwhile, the jury also heard evidence from crèche workers who said that they noticed that the child had bruising on her cheek and forehead. One crèche worker said that she rang her manager and on her advice, she documented what she had spotted and took photographs of the injuries.
She said that she noticed the bruising on the 15 December 2020 when the child was dropped off wearing a festive elf outfit. She stated that she felt the bruising was "unusual" in such a young child.
She gave evidence that when she raised the matter with the mother of the child, she said that it was "nothing". No explanation was furnished for the bruising with the crèche worker saying that the mother "brushed it off".
Another worker present that day said that they noticed a bruise on both the left and right cheek of the child. She said that there was no accident or incident in the crèche involving the child as it would have been documented. The case will continue tomorrow in front of a jury of seven women and five men.
