Couch fall as likely as abuse - doctor
Falling while standing on a couch, a blood-clotting problem and forcefeeding could explain the injuries of a baby girl who was fatally hurt while in her babysitter’s care, a court heard.
Professor Terence Donald said the infant’s ‘‘catastrophic’’ head injuries were just as likely caused by an accidental tumble from a sofa as from being directly inflicted.
Aaliyah Ashlyn Chand was critically injured at a Christchurch home on January 6, 2015 and died in intensive care the following day.
The 1-year-old suffered two skull fractures, swelling of her brain, bleeding in the cranial cavity and severe haemorrhaging in her eyes, as well as bruising to both sides of her face, ears and forehead.
Her babysitter, Shayal Upashna Sami, 21, who was aged 18 and five months pregnant when Aaliyah died, denies her murder, saying she believed the infant was hurt falling from a couch at her Worcester St, Linwood, flat.
During her trial at the High Court in Christchurch medical experts repeatedly cast doubt on the claims, saying Aaliyah’s injuries were ‘‘extraordinarily rare’’ and unlikely to have been an accident.
Donald, a forensic paediatrician and child protection expert from Adelaide in Australia, suggested not enough scrutiny had been made of the little girl’s large size and her physical development. Referring to her injuries, he said: ‘‘There are two alternatives that need to be considered – did she do it to herself, or did someone else do it to her...
‘‘I could see them as an equal weight. Having looked at all the material I could comfortably fit with this being an unresolvable issue at a medical level.’’
Giving evidence for the defence, he said there was no confirmation Aaliyah was asleep on the sofa and rolled off. He suggested she could have been ‘‘cruising’’ while facing the back of the couch – walking while holding along – and fell off while Sami cooked in the kitchen nearby.
The jury previously heard suggestions that if the infant was cruising she would have ‘‘plopped’’ vertically onto her bottom, not fallen off.
Donald said it was equally possible she fell backwards and hit her head on the floor.
Such a fall could have produced a force similar to running at a brick wall at 22kmh, he said.
The trial previously heard Sami put Aaliyah down on the couch to sleep, but Donald said merely rolling off was ‘‘unlikely cause any injuries at all’’.
He found it ‘‘difficult to envisage’’ the injuries being caused by her falling and hitting the couch’s wooden arm.
Medical experts previously told jurors bruising on both sides of Aaliyah’s face was extremely unusual and likely to have been inflicted.
Donald said a blood condition Aaliyah had could explain that bruising, which he said may have been caused during efforts to resuscitate her and during hospital treatment.
He said: ‘‘I believe it would have created a predisposition in her to relatively easy bruising from handling, for example ventilation.
‘‘I think that could account for possibly all of the bruising in her face and under her chin.’’
Defending Sami, Jonathan Eaton QC told the jury Sami ‘‘did not deliberately inflict any injuries to Aaliyah’’.
Prosecutors say the woman, who like Aaliyah is Fijian-Indian, hurt her in a ‘‘moment of anger or frustration’’.
The trial, which began last Monday before Justice Rachel Dunningham, is expected to last two weeks.