Man sent to jail for causing injuries to infant
A man who tried to force feed and then shook a 5-month-old baby has been sent to jail.
Robert Peter Leslie Kelly, 31, who was separated from the baby’s mother, was left in charge of his son while she went to pick up her older children.
When the mother returned to the house she was concerned for the baby, who had pinprick red spots on him. She took him to a medical centre and was sent on to hospital. The baby had a torn tongue, a small rupture over his forehead, spots on his neck, bruising on his chest, more bruising near his left ear, and a bleed in his head.
Kelly had admitted a charge of injuring the baby with reckless disregard for his safety, and was sentenced in the Christchurch District Court yesterday to two years and three months’ jail.
Defence counsel Kiran Paima said Kelly did not enter the room on September 6 with the offending in mind, and he needed help in preventing any recurrence.
Judge Michael Crosbie said Kelly forced a bottle into the baby’s mouth, causing bleeding, and when the baby cried, Kelly shook him.
The mother’s victim impact report said it was a waiting game to check that the baby met all his development milestones as he grew older.
She felt she had let the baby down, and was not there to keep him safe. Judge Michael Crosbie told the sobbing mother in the back of the court that none of this was her fault, and every child should expect their father to take the same care as their mother.
He said Kelly had seven other convictions for violence, and more convictions for breaching court orders.
The baby may have serious long-term physical and psychological effects, but the prognosis was likely to be positive in the long term, the judge said.
Rocket reaches space
Rocket Lab’s world-first test launch has successfully blasted off, making New Zealand the 11th country to launch into space. But the company will be investigating why the rocket failed to reach orbit. After three days of postponements caused by adverse weather, the rocket launched yesterday from its Mahia Peninsula base in Hawke’s Bay. It was a worldfirst attempt to send a rocket into orbit from a private launch pad. Rocket Lab has planned three test launches ahead of its first commercial launch. The rocket will allow small satellites to provide services from space.
More police speeding
The number of police vehicles caught speeding without an excuse jumped by more than 30 per cent in the first three months of this year. Police figures published yesterday show that 118 upheld speeding tickets were issued to police vehicles from January to March. That is up from the 81 upheld tickets issued from October to December last year, and the 97 infringements recorded in the first three months of 2016. In total last year, there were 270 upheld speeding tickets issued to police vehicles. In total, there were 216 speeding tickets issued to police vehicles from January to March, but 98 of them were waived. The speeding offences from January to March resulted in a total of $46,200 in fines.
Doctor receives threats
Dr Lance O’Sullivan says he has received threats against his family after taking to the stage at the screening of a a controversial antivaccination film to slam it. O’Sullivan, 2014’s New Zealander of the Year, railed against the movie Vaxxed in Kaitaia on Monday evening. O’Sullivan told TVNZ he and his family had received threats since, with his disabled son also dragged into the melee. ’’To actually have one of the members of this [anti-vaxxer] movement talk about my son, who has a progressive neuro-muscular condition that limits his life expectancy, and make light of the fact that a vaccination may have caused this or may have improved it, was very hurtful.’’"
Mum battles MPI fine
Are three apple slices and two squashed grapes considered food? Not according to the Ministry for Primary Industries. Gillian Nash and her family flew back from Britain on September 6, 2016. On landing, Nash says she filled out the declaration card and ticked yes to having food and no to having plants or plant products. A search then revealed three apple slices and two grapes squashed into the bottom of her bag. Nash received an infringement notice for an instant $400 fine for wrongly filling out the declaration. Yesterday in the Wellington District Court, a judge decided she may have been wrong in the way she filled out the card, but it was not dishonesty. Nash did not get a conviction, but admitted the offence and was given a $20 fine.