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Irish Daily Mirror
09-05-2025
- Health
- Irish Daily Mirror
Grandmother of hospitalised baby tells court father faked photographs
The grandmother of a five month old girl who was hospitalised with serious injuries has told a court that the father of the child faked photographs which he alleges show that the infant sustained bruises whilst being minded by her. A 31 year-old man, who can't be named for legal reasons, is on trial at the Circuit Criminal Court in Cork charged with assaulting his infant daughter. The trial previously heard that the child had bruises on her face, cheek, stomach abdomen and right buttock as well as abrasions on her left temporal area, her cheek and her nose when she was examined by doctors at Cork University Hospital on January 4, 2021. Her parents brought her to hospital as she had been vomiting for eight hours. The grandmother of the child was cross examined on Friday by defence senior counsel Ray Boland. Two photographs of the infant which were allegedly taken by her father were entered into evidence as defence exhibits. The father of the child claims that the photographs were taken on occasions after the alleged incidents for which he is on trial and during times when the grandmother was taking care of his daughter. The photographs entered into the defence exhibit are dated February 15, 2023 and March 1, 2023 respectively. Mr Boland showed the grandmother the first picture which appeared to be of the child at the centre of the case with a small bruise on one of her thighs. The woman said that the photo was fake and that the child never had this bruise. The second photograph was of the child with a scratch and a bruise on one of her thighs. The grandmother stated that the child did have a scratch but she insisted there was no bruise. She said that the bruise was 'added in' to the photograph. When asked by Mr Boland if she was claiming that the bruising was photoshopped in she agreed that was the case. Meanwhile, Dr Rosina McGovern, consultant paediatrician, previously told the trial that when the child was admitted to Cork University Hospital (CUH) in January 2021 it was established that she had suffered a subdural haemorrhage, a fractured collar bone, blood on the surface of the brain and tearing of its connective fibres in addition to bruising and abrasions. Dr McGovern said she believed the injuries constituted serious harm. Prosecution Senior Counsel Jane Hyland said serious harm defined in Irish law is 'an injury that creates a substantial risk of death or causes serious disfigurement or substantial loss or impairment of mobility of the body or function of a bodily member or organ.' The father of the child has pleaded not guilty to counts of assault causing harm to his infant daughter, assault causing her serious harm and a count of cruelty. The case will continue on Monday of next week in front of a jury of seven women and five men.
RTÉ News
09-05-2025
- Health
- RTÉ News
Father faked photos of injured baby, grandmother tells court
The grandmother of a five-month-old girl who was hospitalised with serious injuries has told a court that the father of the child faked photographs which he alleges show that the infant sustained bruises while being minded by her. A 31-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is on trial at the Circuit Criminal Court in Cork charged with assaulting his infant daughter. The trial previously heard that the child had bruises on her face, cheek, stomach, abdomen and right buttock as well as abrasions on her left temporal area, her cheek and her nose when she was examined by doctors at Cork University Hospital (CUH) on 4 January 2021. Her parents brought her to hospital as she had been vomiting for eight hours. The grandmother of the child was cross examined today by defence Senior Counsel Ray Boland. Two photographs of the infant which were allegedly taken by her father were entered in to evidence as defence exhibits. The father of the child claims that the photographs were taken on occasions after the alleged incidents for which he is on trial and during times when the grandmother was taking care of his daughter. The photographs entered in to the defence exhibit are dated 15 February 2023 and 1 March 2023 respectively. Mr Boland showed the grandmother the first picture which appeared to be of the child at the centre of the case with a small bruise on one of her thighs. The woman said that the photo was fake and that the child never had that bruise. The second photograph was of the child with a scratch and a bruise on one of her thighs. The grandmother stated that the child did have a scratch but she insisted there was no bruise. She said that the bruise was "added in" to the photograph. When asked by Mr Boland if she was claiming that the bruising was photoshopped in she agreed that was the case. Meanwhile, Dr Rosina McGovern, consultant paediatrician, previously told the trial that when the child was admitted to CUH in January 2021 it was established that she had suffered a subdural haemorrhage, a fractured collar bone, blood on the surface of the brain and tearing of its connective fibres in addition to bruising and abrasions. Dr McGovern said she believed the injuries constituted serious harm. Prosecution Senior Counsel Jane Hyland said serious harm is defined in Irish law as "an injury that creates a substantial risk of death or causes serious disfigurement or substantial loss or impairment of mobility of the body or function of a bodily member or organ". The father of the child has pleaded not guilty to counts of assault causing harm to his infant daughter, assault causing her serious harm and a count of cruelty. The case will continue next Monday in front of a jury of seven women and five men.
Irish Examiner
08-05-2025
- Health
- Irish Examiner
Grandmother of baby at centre of child cruelty trial said infant 'did not look well at all' when she visited
The grandmother of the six-month-old baby girl at the centre of a child cruelty trial said the infant was making a strange noise from her throat and her eyes were dazed on the first day the baby's mother returned to work. The witness arrived at her daughter's home that day to see the baby on her father's knee. 'I went straight over to her and she did not look well at all. She appeared to be lethargic. She was making a strange noise in her throat. Her eyes were quite dazed. She just did not look right to me,' the infant's grandmother testified. The witness said the child's father said to his partner the child had vomited a couple of times and he had to change his clothes. The grandmother asked the defendant if he had given the infant Calpol and in that regard he replied: 'No, I didn't want to hurt her.' The child's grandmother gave her Calpol from a teaspoon. 'I said to [her daughter], you need to take her to the doctor… I said you need to call an ambulance,' she said. She also advised her daughter that whatever had occurred they should tell the hospital the truth about it. In a previous incident, the witness's daughter phoned again to say the baby had blood in her mouth. The witness thought it might have been an early tooth cutting the gum. On an occasion when she was minding the baby, she noticed a 'tiny, browny coloured bruise above her nipple'. This evidence was given in direct examination by prosecution senior counsel Jane Hyland. The cross-examination by Ray Boland senior counsel for the defence was adjourned until May 9. The infant's father denies counts of cruelty to the baby, assault causing harm, and causing her serious harm. The 31-year-old from Co Cork pleaded not guilty when arraigned at Cork Circuit Criminal Court, to three separate charges. He denied assault causing harm, assault causing serious harm, and cruelty to the child on various dates from November 25, 2020, to January 2021 when is daughter was around six months old. Much of Thursday, the third day of the trial, was spent in legal discussion, which had to be held in the absence of the jury. The 31-year-old father of the child from Co Cork pleaded not guilty to assault causing harm, assault causing serious harm and cruelty to his daughter — on various dates from November 25, 2020, to January 2021, when she was around six months old. Judge Dermot Sheehan asked the seven women and five men of the jury to return to Cork Circuit Criminal Court on May 9 for the case, which is expected to take at least until May 16. Read More Initial fears baby at centre of a child cruelty trial had suffered brain injury
