Taylor found guilty of toddler’s murder

Troy Taylor has been found guilty of the murder of Ihaka Stokes.

Taylor, the former partner of Ihaka’s mother Mikala Stokes, was charged with murdering and assaulting the toddler in July 2015.

There was a gasp in the courtroom as the verdicts were delivered. ‘‘No,’’ one person said. Members of Taylor’s family and that of Cameron Ellen, Ihaka’s biological father, wiped away tears.

Justice Mander remanded Taylor in custody until June 9 for sentencing. Taylor had pleaded not guilty and accused Stokes of harming her 14-month-old son on the afternoon of July 3 while he was out of the house.

When he gave evidence in his own defence, he said he initially lied to police to protect Stokes, telling them that Ihaka was hurt in an accidental fall in his cot.

The jury of six women and six men took four hours to convict Taylor on the two charges.

Ihaka was rushed to Christchurch Hospital on the night of July 3 with serious head injuries, but died shortly after.

He was later found to have suffered 59 separate injuries.

Post mortem scans identified a number of broken bones, including both shoulder blades, his left forearm and several vertebrae. The prosecution and defence agreed Ihaka’s injuries were ‘‘nonaccidental’’.

The Crown argued Taylor, who had suffered multiple concussions and had ongoing problems with headaches, dizziness, frustration and irritability, had snapped. The Crown said Taylor assaulted Ihaka on the night of July 2, causing bruising to his face which was seen by a doctor the next morning, and went further on the night of July 3.

Crown witness Professor Colin Smith, a neuropathologist, said a lack of nerve damage in Ihaka’s brain meant he suffered head injuries ‘‘very close’’ to when he went into cardiac arrest about 10.40pm on July 3.

That discounted the afternoon assault theory, he said.

Defence counsel Phil Shamy said in his closing that the idea Taylor was still lying about what happened made no sense.

‘‘Why not say Mikala got out of bed and beat the boy?

‘‘Why not say that if you’re going to lie? There’s only two of you in that house. Why not just make it a credibility contest?’’

In response to Smith’s evidence that Ihaka could not have survived for hours after suffering head injuries: ‘‘Mr Taylor says ‘No. This is what I saw. I was there’.

‘‘You have an expert … but it’s not trial by expert, otherwise you wouldn’t be here.

‘‘You need to decide what … you do with his evidence.’’

There was significant evidence that Taylor was a loving parent to Ihaka and did most jobs in looking after the boy, the defence argued. Stokes sent numerous text messages to Taylor the day Ihaka died asking his whereabouts and describing a ‘‘tired and grumpy’’ baby. She had admitted she sometimes got frustrated with her son and at times, at Taylor’s urging, would have to ‘‘walk away’’.