Baby suffered broken bones, skull fracture in mother’s care

A FIVE-MONTH-OLD baby girl suffered a skull fracture, a broken arm, and a broken left and right leg under the care of her then teenage mother, a has court heard.

The mother arrived at her GP with her baby on February 13, 2015, in a distressed state because her daughter’s left arm wasn’t moving and she had bruising to her face, Ennis Circuit Court was told yesterday.

The GP referred the case immediately to the paediatric unit at University Hospital Limerick. There, medics carried out a full skeletal survey that detected older injuries – a healing fracture of the left tibia; a healing fracture of the right femur; and an older right-sided skull fracture.

They also detected a torn frenulum – the muscle under the tongue – and the mother said this could have occurred as a result of forcing a baby’s bottle or soother into the baby’s mouth.

The now 22-year-old Clare woman has pleaded guilty to wilfully assaulting and neglecting the child. The woman can’t be named in order to protect the identity of her little girl.

The offence took place on dates between the summer of 2014 and February 2015. Counsel for the mother, Patrick Whyms BL said that the State had not proceeded with an assault-causing-harm charge against his client, and there was no evidence to support a charge that the mother had deliberately assaulted the baby.

He said: ‘Clearly, the baby has been treated in too rough a fashion by far and has sustained these injuries.’

However, consultant paediatrician Dr Barry Linnane expressed doubt over the explanations given by the mother for the injuries.

The baby is now in the care of the father, and the mother – who was diagnosed with suffering from post natal depression in October 2014 – is allowed supervised access.

Judge Gerard Keys directed that the mother engage with the Probation Services and remanded her on continuing bail.