A Bay of Plenty father has gone on trial after his four-month-old baby was found to have suffered fractures to his skull, ribs, arm and legs, and bleeding to his brain and back of his eyes.
Unemployed Kaingaroa man, Benjiman Athol Boynton, has pleaded not guilty in Rotorua District Court to two charges of causing grievous bodily harm to his son, Benjiman Hayden Boynton, between November 29, 2009 and March 31, 2010.
He also denied he maimed the infant by fracturing his left arm about March 30, 2010.
The offending is alleged to have occurred at the Boynton family's Kaingaroa home.
Opening for the Crown on Tuesday, prosecutor Chris Macklin said the case was about who was responsible for the injuries and whether they had been inflicted intentionally.
Rotorua Hospital paediatrician Johan Morreau said he asked for a skeletal survey of the baby after seeing an X-ray of a spiral fracture on his upper arm that suggested child abuse.
Healing fractures were detected in his legs and ribs.
The survey also uncovered potentially life-threatening bleeding involving the brain and eyes.
In his view this had been inflicted by wrenching, squeezing or shaking.
Dr Morreau considered the injuries to be non-accidental.
"There is no other explanation," he told the court.
He agreed with defence counsel Harry Edward there weren't any signs of bruising on the baby's body and he looked to be a healthy, settled little boy.
The Crown is expected to close its case on Wednesday.
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