Boy, 3, ‘died from head injury and burns’
HEAD injuries and infected burns caused the death of a three-year-old boy who had more than 70 injuries on his body, a pathologist told a court.
Christina Robinson is standing trial accused of murdering little Dwelaniyah, who weighed 2st 3lb and was 3ft 2in tall, after subjecting him to cruelty by burning him in scalding water and hitting him with a cane. Prosecutors say she allegedly immersed him in scalding water, causing burns to 20% of his body in the weeks before he died. She denies the charges.
Pathologist Dr Nigel Cooper, who carried out a post mortem on Dwelaniyah, said the burns to his legs, buttocks and genitals would have been “excruciatingly painful” and on the day he died he would have been “significantly debilitated”. Dr Cooper said he probably would have died from the head injuries alone but the effect of the burns made him less able to withstand the head injuries.
Dr Cooper told Newcastle Crown Court Dwelaniyah’s head injury occurred close to the time of death and was likely to have involved repetitive forceful movement of the head. Jurors have heard it may have been caused by shaking, possibly involving the head impacting with a surface.
Asked if he thought the burns could have contributed to death, Dr Cooper said his opinion was they may have contributed to his death but in themselves it’s unlikely they caused death. He said the burns could not have caused death that day but the head injuries could.
The pathologist said there were 19 tramline bruises which were consistent with being caused by a thin stick. He said they would “certainly have been painful” but probably did not contribute to death. There were also numerous scratches, bruises and marks to his body.
Asked whether Robinson’s account that Dwelaniyah died after choking on a cheese sandwich accounts for his death, Dr Cooper said: “It certainly doesn’t account for the findings inside the head. I’ve not been given any objective evidence his airway was blocked.
Asked for his opinion about cause of death, Dr Cooper said: “Head injury and infected burns.”
Robinson, 30, of Bracken Court, Ushaw Moor, County Durham, denies murder on November 5, 2022, and child cruelty.
The trial continues.