Man Acquitted of Wilfully Assaulting 9-Month-Old Baby

Case study summary

Our client was acquitted of child cruelty following an accusation that he wilfully assaulted his son causing a broken leg. After listening to his evidence, hearing the expert cross-examination by his barrister and considering our expert reports, a jury found him Not Guilty.

Case study

Our client was accused of child cruelty. It was alleged that he wilfully assaulted his 9-month-old son by breaking his leg. The prosecution case was that our client intentionally twisted the baby's leg which caused a fracture. It was suggested that he became overwhelmed when looking after his son alone for the first time.

The prosecution narrowed the window of opportunity for the injury to be caused to a 2.5 hour period when the baby was being looked after by his father. However, after a careful review of the papers, we identified that the prosecution's own medical expert evidence actually extended the window of opportunity for the injury to have been caused to an 11 day period. During this time, the child's father looked after him the least. The prosecution also relied heavily on messages exchanged between our client and his former partner, but they could not point to a specific incident which caused the child harm. We highlighted the weaknesses in the prosecution's case to the jury and the fact that the evidence they relied on was completely circumstantial.

The defence case preparation was extensive and thorough. We obtained detailed instructions from our client and instructed an experienced barrister as well as renowned medical experts to assist in preparing the defence case, which ultimately led to our client being found Not Guilty. He was extremely pleased with the result.