KEY POINTS:
The father of a baby girl who died from a skull fracture in Putaruru in 2005 appeared in court today charged with her murder.
Joshua Woodcock was charged in Hamilton District Court with the murder of three-month-old Sarah Rebekah Woodcock-Haddock on or about March 12, 2005, in Putaruru.
He was also charged with assaulting, wilfully neglecting, and causing grievous bodily harm to the girl.
The girl's mother, 20-year-old Jaymie Ellen Haddock, was jailed for 2-1/2 years in December last year, for wilfully neglecting her daughter.
A pathologist found Sarah Rebekah-Woodcock to have died from a fractured skull. She also suffered other injuries including rib injuries on both sides, a tear to the tissue around her upper lip, and bruising to her jaw, cheek and chest.
Woodcock, 23, entered no plea to the charges today.
Police did not oppose bail, however Judge Robert Spear imposed several conditions, including a residency clause, a once-weekly condition to report to the Hamilton central police station and an order for Woodcock to not be unaccompanied with children under the age of six.
He was also ordered to surrender his passport and to not associate with nine witnesses expected to be called in the court case.
Woodcock was to reappear in the Hamilton District Court for pre-depositions in March.
- NZPA
