Doctor 'missed' man's fractured skull, court told

It was likely Weylin Ngarangione would not have died, had a fracture to his skull been found and treated, a pathologist told the High Court in Gisborne today.

Tim Koelmayer was giving evidence for the prosecution in the trial of Rimi Morrell, 20, who has pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of Mr Ngarangione by hitting him on the head with a bottle, and punching him in the head, in a drunken brawl at a party at Manutuke, near Gisborne, on June 10 last year.

Mr Ngarangione was cleared by a doctor at Gisborne Hospital, but was found dead in his mother's Manutuke home four days later.

Dr Koelmeyer said Mr Ngarangione died because the compound fracture to his skull allowed bacteria to enter and infect his brain, causing an abscess.

"If the brain had not become infected this man, in all likelihood, would not have died."

Deaths from brain abscesses were "extremely uncommon" because of readily available antibiotics, he said.

Dr Koelmeyer said the skull fracture Mr Ngarangione received was "usually associated with a blow from a hammer", but did not cause an impact injury to the brain.

"In 31 years of forensic pathology, I cannot recall seeing a compound fracture to the skull that resulted in death."

Dr Linh Bui, who assessed Mr Ngarangione when he was taken to Gisborne Hospital, said he had "blood oozing down his face" from the cut to his head, but he found no fracture.

Mr Ngarangione scored the best possible mark on the Glasgow Coma Scale and passed other neurological tests before he was discharged.

The trial is continuing.

- NZPA