3-year-old succumbs to head injuries

Seini Unaloto Ikamanu. Photo / Supplied

A 3-year-old girl has died, succumbing to serious head injuries months after she was admitted to Starship hospital.

Seini Unaloto Ikamanu spent her 3rd birthday in a coma.

She was 2 years old when she was rushed to Starship hospital in March, and died on Monday.

"Seini never recovered from her injury. She was in palliative care until her death," a police statement said yesterday.

A 27-year-old man, whose identity is suppressed, has been charged with assault on a child.

Police declined to comment further but did not rule out laying more serious charges.

Seini, also known as Jane, was injured at her parents' home in Beach Haven on Auckland's North Shore in March.

Figures released under the Official Information Act show that 130 children were admitted to Starship with injuries from "definite or probable child abuse" between July 2005 and July 2010.

Fifteen of those died.