Baby had 40 fractures: Crown

A 4-week-old boy had 40 broken bones when he was taken to Christchurch Hospital after what was said to be a suffocation incident.

The High Court at Christchurch will hear evidence from experts that there was no explanation for the injuries to Carter Hutton other than ‘‘inflicted trauma’’.

The boy’s father, Hayden Anthony Gray, 32, is on trial on two charges of intentionally causing grievous bodily harm, and one of injuring with intent to injure. He denies all the charges.

At the four-day trial, the Crown will call evidence in court from six doctors, the child’s mother, and two police officers.

Evidence of eight more witnesses will be presented in writing. The trial is taking place before Justice Rob Osborne, without a jury.

Both parents, Gray and former New Zealand domestic netball player Megan Hutton, who played for Southern Steel, were crying in court as the evidence was being given.

Crown prosecutor Ruth Harcourt said Carter sustained a severe brain injury on July 24, 2017. He survived the trauma but died just over a year later.

Gray was looking after Carter at the time and claimed he had fallen asleep and rolled on to the baby on the sofa, causing him to suffocate. ‘‘The Crown says the injuries are inconsistent with that explanation,’’ Harcourt told the court.

Doctors found the child had multiple fractures to his arms, legs and ribs, some of them acute but some showing signs of healing indicating they were seven to 10 days old.

There was also retinal haemorrhaging and bruising indicating there had been squeezing or compression of the area around the eyes.

Gray and Hutton had been together for several years and were living together in Christchurch. They were engaged to be married.

Gray worked fulltime and was involved in caring for the baby and would do the 10pm feed using expressed milk. Hutton would do the night feeds.

Harcourt said: ‘‘The Crown says the defendant’s commitment to Hutton was not as it seemed. He was spending much of his time accessing dating sites and explicit pornography.’’

On July 24, 2017, Gray was home from work with a sore neck and he was caring for the child while Hutton left the house at 12.30pm to meet a friend. At 12.50pm, Gray began accessing dating sites and pornography and by 1.30pm there had been 90 internet interactions, Harcourt said.

He said Carter was unsettled, so he gave him a bottle, changed his nappy, and they fell asleep lying on the sofa. When he awoke he was lying with his chest pressing down on top of Carter, who was limp and blue around the mouth. He started to panic and hit the child on the back a few times and put his fingers down Carter’s throat.

He rang Hutton and she returned home. The pair did CPR until ambulance staff arrived and took the child to the hospital.

The suffocation explanation was initially accepted but then examinations showed extensive bleeding in the retina that was not consistent with accidental suffocation. That type of injury tended to come from high-impact car crashes or inflicted trauma.

Broken bones in the arms and legs, and 24 rib fractures were found. These were believed to be consistent with pulling and twisting or violent shaking.

The Crown believed these were consistent with intentional violent shaking or possibly by throwing on to a soft surface.

Harcourt outlined the medical evidence that would be called. A child abuse paediatrician from Pennsylvania would say the injuries were consistent with ‘‘repeated physical abuse’’ and were clearly not consistent with Gray falling asleep on the baby.

She said: ‘‘The experts agree there is no explanation for Carter’s injuries other than inflicted trauma.’’

Mother, Megan Hutton, told of receiving a phone call from Gray on July 24, 2017, saying that Carter was struggling to breathe.

The trial is continuing.

Carter sustained a severe brain injury on July 24, 2017. He survived the trauma but died just over a year later.