Toddler's head injuries not from accidental fall, court told

Massive head injuries that led to the death of a Kerikeri toddler could not have been caused by an accidental fall from a cot, a court has been told.

Kerikeri beneficiary Kyle Skerten, 22, has been charged with the murder of his 16-month-old stepson in December last year.

He also faces 12 drugs charges, including offering to supply cannabis and methamphetamine, or P, and supplying materials used to manufacture methamphetamine.

A depositions hearing to decide whether he should stand trial started in Kaikohe District Court yesterday and is expected to last all week.

Crown prosecutor Kim Thomas said the child was injured between 7 and 7.20pm on December 19, in the Cobham Rd home Skerten shared with his partner and a friend.

After being rushed to Bay of Islands Hospital, then Whangarei, the toddler was airlifted to Starship Hospital in Auckland where he died four days later.

Mr Thomas said the injuries - fractures to the rear of his skull, bleeding on the brain, and eye injuries that could have left him blind had he survived - had been caused by a massive force.

A paediatrician had told him he had last seen injuries like it when a child had fallen 11m onto bare concrete.

Hospital staff did not immediately alert police, so a search of the home did not start until the following evening.

No blood or obvious cause of the injuries was found, and not everyone at the address was particularly helpful, Mr Thomas said.

A witness, whose name is suppressed, told the court how she had been visiting Skerten and his partner that evening.

She broke down in tears as she described how the boy had seemed fine when his mother put him to bed about 7pm, and said "good night, my sausage".

Later she heard him crying, as if he wanted attention, from his room.

Skerten went to check on the toddler and came back saying he had fallen out of his cot, but was still asleep.

"It did look like he was sleeping ... But [the boy's mother] sat down with him and something wasn't right. She lifted his head and it flopped."

The witness called 111 and an ambulance arrived just before 7.30pm.

As they drove to hospital Skerten appeared stunned, holding his hands to his head.

- NORTHERN ADVOCATE