Child cruelty trial hears evidence from emergency services and accident and emergency doctor

By Declan Brennan

The trial of a couple accused of causing serious harm to their child has heard that medical staff observed burns and bruising all over the girl’s body.

The 39-year-old man and 36-year-old woman, who are from north Africa, told paramedics that their nine-year-old daughter had slipped in the shower a few hours before they rang 999.

Witnesses told the trial yesterday that after the child was hospitalised both parents stated that they hadn’t previously seen the injuries on her body.

The couple, who can’t be named to protect the identity of the child, have pleaded not guilty to intentionally or recklessly causing serious harm to the child at the family home in Dublin on July 2, 2019.

They have also pleaded not guilty to child cruelty, contrary to the Children Act, by failing to provide adequate medical aid on the same occasion.

They have further pleaded not guilty to intentionally or recklessly causing serious disfigurement to the child and to two further counts of child cruelty on occasions between June 28 and July 2, 2019.

On day two of the trial, a number of witnesses from Dublin Fire Brigade gave evidence of what they saw when they responded to a 999 call from the girl’s father made around 10pm.

The witnesses described finding a young girl laid out on a mattress in an untidy room.

The girl was staring blankly with open eyes but her vision unresponsive and her face looked bruised.

One fireman said he found a flab of flesh on her foot, later described as a burst blister. He also found her thigh inflamed and hot to touch. When paramedics subsequently arrived, they noticed what were described as “nail marks or bite marks” on the child’s back.

The jury heard evidence that the man said his daughter was unhappy since moving to Ireland three months earlier and that she was quite withdrawn and had self harmed. He said that she was unable to walk properly and couldn’t straighten one of her arms.

A garda witness told the court that the man later told him the girl had not seen a doctor since arriving in Ireland.

The girl was brought to Temple St. children’s hospital in Dublin city where emergency consultant Dr Ike Okafor assessed her. He told the jury today/yesterday (WED) that he concluded there was a high probability that the child would die from her injuries and he noted significant disfigurement.

He said the child’s father told him that the girl had fallen from her bike onto rocks two days earlier. He said the man told him that he was in work the previous evening when his wife called and told him the girl had slipped in the shower.

The witness said the man told him he had never seen the injuries found on the girl and said that he never really talks much with the girl and that she dressed herself.

Dr Okafor said the girl’s mother told him that she heard another daughter screaming and then found the injured party on the floor of the shower.

Asked about the marks on the girl’s body, the woman said she had never seen them before, Dr Okafor testified. She said her daughter was not normal and didn’t let her mother touch her, but said she was of good intelligence.

The trial continues before Judge Martin Nolan and a jury.

It is expected to last three weeks, but could run for up to four weeks.