Fatal shaking claim
Baby’s injuries were similar to car crash victim, court told
FATAL injuries sustained by a Colac baby allegedly murdered by his father were “consistent with” impact and shaking, the Geelong Magistrates’ Court heard yesterday.
Three-month-old Braxton Hammond died in 2011 after he was hospitalised with bleeding between the brain and skull and rib fractures.
Police allege Scott Hammond fatally injured his son by shaking him on October 15, 2011.
Yesterday, Mr Hammond, 27, pleaded not guilty to reckless murder and negligent manslaughter and will face the Supreme Court on December 11 to fight the charges.
American child abuse paediatrics expert Dr Randell Alexander — who has given evidence in more than 250 court cases — told Mr Ham- mond’s committal hearing Braxton’s injuries were akin to those an unrestricted child could receive in a serious car accident.
“Some of the injuries seen in this child don’t happen (without some external factor) to a child that age because they are pre-mobile,” Dr Alexander said.
On request of the Homicide Squad, Dr Alexander drew on medical information in 2013 to report on the nature of Braxton’s injuries and to determine how long before his death they were inflicted.
During cross-examination, Dr Alexander said Braxton’s injuries were “most consistent with” impact and shaking, and that “certainly shaking was significant”.
The court heard Braxton’s mother Nakita Cook was a “person of interest” in the murder investigation for two years but was cleared after Dr Alexander produced his report.
The report found the injuries were inflicted at a time when the mother was not at home, the court heard.
Dr Alexander, appearing via video link from the US, told the court a leg fracture found on Braxton probably occurred “several days” before his death.
He said it was highly unlikely Braxton’s rib fractures were sustained while Mr Ham- mond performed CRP on him on October 15, 2011.
“It’s theoretically possible but not what we usually see ... you could squeeze the chest hard enough to get lateral fractures. It’s certainly possible the rib fractures happened at the same time as the head injury.”
Lawyer for Mr Hammond, Fiona Todd, argued it wasn’t possible to determine the amount of force required to cause Braxton’s injuries, and “an old haemorrhage” may have opened at the time of shaking.
Braxton was flown to the The Royal Children’s Hospital on October 15, 2011 and died nine days later.