Baby had suffered extensive injuries
Reporter: Court Reporter
Date published: 04 October 2010
Violet was ‘punched or stamped in the stomach’ court told
TRAGIC tot Violet Mullen suffered severe internal injuries similar to those seen in high-speed car crashes, a court heard.
The 15-month-old died on January 12 after collapsing at her home in Huddersfield Road, Waterhead.
Her mum, Claire Flanagan (22), and her partner, Gary Alcock (28), deny murdering Violet and causing or allowing her death.
The jury at Manchester Crown Court heard how Violet was forcefully punched or stamped in the stomach up to an hour before she died.
James Bruce, a consultant paediatric surgeon at the Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, told the jury that Violet had suffered extensive and severe injuries.
He said that, in his experience, deaths of this nature usually occurred after a high-speed car crash or an injury caused by an assault.
The court heard how the fatal blow or blows caused internal injuries which led to vital organs shutting down.
Another expert witness, Dr Alan Sprigg, said that Violet had suffered fractured ribs in an incident 10 days to three weeks before her death.
He said these were either caused by a “forceful squeeze” or a blow and that excessive force “well beyond anything that would normally happen in reasonable handling” must have caused the injuries.
Dr Philip Lumb, a Home Office pathologist who carried out a post-mortem examination, found that Violet had 39 external bruises, 16 of which were on her head, face and neck.
The majority of the marks did not appear to have been bumps caused by play but suggested she had been forcible gripped, pinched and hit, he said.
An injury to her eye may have been caused by shaking or a blow at the time of death or in the previous 24 hours before, he added.
An older injury to the abdomen than the fatal one suggested earlier blunt force trauma and could have occurred at the same time her ribs were fractured, he said.
The case continues.
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