Dead toddler battered by up to 60 blows

A terrified 3-year-old boy tried to hide evidence of soiling his clothes to save himself from further attacks from his mother, a court heard yesterday.

The boy was beaten by his mother soon after he went to live with her and began fouling his pants and bed.

He was admitted to Middlemore Hospital on January 31 with life-threatening injuries. He was transferred to Starship Children's Hospital where he died the next day.

The boy's mother and her partner were yesterday committed for trial on a joint murder charge after the completion of a depositions hearing in Manukau District Court.

All three names are suppressed.

The police summary said the boy was so scared of his mother's beatings he tried to wash the faeces down the sink or throw it out the bathroom window.

On January 30 this year when his mother found he had soiled his pants again she beat him with the metal handle of a broken oar.

The attack left him with a dislocated left elbow and severe bruising and swelling to his entire body, including his genitals.

The mother then gave him a cold shower but he winced every time she passed the towel over his injuries. She put him to bed.

The next morning he had wet his bed again and his mother beat him again.

When the woman's partner arrived home from his night shift he beat the toddler with an aluminium baseball bat, police claimed.

The mother arrived home after going shopping but her son was unconscious.

She told her partner not to call an ambulance because she did not want anyone, including police, to find out.

An ambulance was called and the boy was taken to hospital where he died the next day.

Police said there were at least 50 to 60 blows to the toddler's body.

Detective Constable Roger Taylor told the hearing the woman's partner told him he had seen her assault him many times with whatever was around the house.

The accused man said he arrived home to find his partner trying to revive the 3-year-old who was on the floor.

- NZPA