Outrage at baby basher penalty

By ALISON HORWOOD

Police are outraged at a "grossly inadequate" community sentence given to a body-builder who broke six bones in a newborn girl's body. They want it appealed.

They also want the man's name suppression lifted.

The four months' periodic detention imposed by the Napier District Court comes a month after the Commissioner for Children, Roger McClay, released his damning report into the fatal beating of 4-year-old James Whakaruru.

A stunned Mr McClay has now sent a copy to the judge who presided over the latest case, Tony Adeane.

"I find this sentence surprising," said Mr McClay. "A 2-month-old can do no wrong, they just can't. I have no time for this. It's unbelievable."

Mr McClay damned welfare agencies after James was killed by his stepfather, Benny Haerewa, in April last year. Haerewa was jailed for 12 years.

Last week, in the Napier case, a 28-year-old builder was granted name suppression and sentenced to 16 weeks' periodic detention after pleading guilty to injuring with intent. The maximum penalty is five years' imprisonment.

In an unusual move, police have recommended that the Crown Law Office appeal against the sentence, and they also want the man to lose name suppression.

Detective Emmet Lynch of Napier said periodic detention was grossly inadequate given the serious injuries and the child's age.

"There is a worry, not only that the family will be reunited, but that such a light sentence will not deter others," he said.

After four years on the child-abuse team, Detective Lynch said, it was the first time he had seen a conviction for injuring with intent not result in imprisonment.

Dr Philip Moore, clinical director of paediatrics at Healthcare Hawkes Bay, said he and his colleagues were horrified at the sentence.

"As a paediatrician who sees child-abuse cases regularly, it seems like a very light sentence. Coming from the James Whakaruru case, where we all felt bad about the significance of child abuse, the inference now is that it is not such a great crime."

Documents obtained by the Weekend Herald show that in mid-1998 the man and his partner, who worked at a massage parlour, were living in Takanini. She worked nights and the man - who was taking performance-enhancing drugs - cared for the baby and an older girl.

The police summary of facts states that in the first week of August that year, the man held the baby "very tightly" because she would not stop crying. She received four fractures to her ribs.

About the same time he lost his temper and grabbed her by the leg when she would not stay still as he was changing her nappies. She received a fracture to the top of the right tibia and a spiral fracture to the right femur.

The injuries were revealed on August 7 when the mother, now aged 27, arrived home to find the man distressed. He told her he had dropped the baby.

The next day, the child, who was crying and not moving her leg properly, was taken to Middlemore Hospital where an x-ray revealed the broken bones. A consulting orthopaedic surgeon indicated the breaks might have occurred on more than one occasion.

The Children, Young Persons and Their Families Service took custody of the child and the police were notified.

The girl, now aged 2, is still in social welfare custody but is looked after by her paternal grandparents in Napier. She is reported to be fit and well.

The man has separated from the mother, but speculation that the couple may reunite means he may eventually get unrestricted access to the child.

He could not be contacted at his Napier home this week, but his mother told the Weekend Herald: "Leave us alone. It was two years ago and we are trying to get on with our lives." The man's lawyer, Russell Fairbrother, who also acted for Haerewa, would not comment.

In sentencing, Judge Adeane said the man inflicted the injuries due to his "frustration" at the pressures of dealing with two young children. He was also under financial pressure. But most parents dealt with these issues.

The injuries to the baby had been caused by "carelessness and recklessness" rather than a deliberate intent to injure, the judge said.

To his credit, the man had confessed to police, pleaded guilty, and taken steps to remedy his anger problem. He was a first-time offender.