A young father is accused of criminal negligence by allowing his daughter to fall off his bed, leaving her with serious injuries. Photo: Michelle Kroll.
CONTENT WARNING: This article refers to alleged family violence.
A father is fighting allegations that he assaulted his three-month-old daughter in addition to allowing her to tumble off his bed in a fall that resulted in her being flown to a Sydney hospital with a skull fracture.
In 2023, the then-22-year-old separated from the mother when their daughter was born in 2023, although they agreed to co-parent, the ACT Supreme Court heard when his judge-alone trial began on Monday (9 February).
He was “really excited” to become a father and was “very devoted, very caring, very gentle” with his daughter, his mother told the court.
Kieran Fitzgerald, appearing for the prosecution, said the carpenter arranged to spend a night with his daughter in July 2023 while her mother, who lived separately from him, was spending time with her family.
The court heard he later claimed he had got up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night and left his daughter on his bed when she rolled over and fell about 60 cm to the floor.
Her mother messaged him the next day and asked, “How was [the baby]?”, but he didn’t respond.
Mr Fitzgerald said the man’s mother took the baby to hospital in the afternoon after noticing a bump on her head and told staff her son claimed she had fallen off the bed.
He didn’t go to the hospital himself, as his mother said he was too upset.
The baby was airlifted to the Sydney Children’s Hospital where she was found to have injuries that included a skull fracture, brain bleed, bruising to both eyes as well as around one eye, and bruises to an armpit.
Ultimately, she didn’t need surgery, Mr Fitzgerald said.
Meanwhile, the man messaged his daughter’s mother, saying he hated himself for what had happened.
“She was on my bed just chilling, and I needed to piss,” he told her.
“I know I f-ed up.
“I’m actually the shittest Dad ever.”
The man, who is not named to protect his daughter’s identity, pleaded not guilty to one count of causing grievous bodily harm by a negligent act and two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Mr Fitzgerald expected the key issue for the first charge would be whether the act of leaving the baby alone on the bed was criminally negligent or not.
He claimed leaving her unattended in a location where she was able to fall to the ground showed a disregard for her safety and fell far short of reasonable standards of care.
When it came to the other two charges, he said the prosecution’s case was that the bruising to and around her eyes was not accidental and asked the court to infer the man had inflicted these injuries.
He expected medical experts would tell the court these injuries were not consistent with a fall from a bed.
Barrister Jack Pappas, representing the man, said his client had only left the baby alone for a short time and expected the court would hear she had only just begun to be able to roll over.
He said that, given all the circumstances of the matter, they did not establish criminal negligence.
Mr Pappas said that while the baby did suffer a serious injury, he questioned whether it was serious enough to be classified as grievous bodily harm.
“She recovered very rapidly,” he said.
He also said his client did go to the Sydney hospital to be with his daughter and was “unknown to the law” aside from these allegations.
The trial continues before Acting Justice John Burns.
If this story has raised any concerns for you, 1800RESPECT, the national 24-hour sexual assault, family and domestic violence counselling line, can be contacted on 1800 737 732. Help and support are also available through the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre on 02 6247 2525, the Domestic Violence Crisis Service ACT on 02 6280 0900, the Sexual Violence Legal Services on 6257 4377 and Lifeline on 13 11 14. In an emergency, call triple zero.
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