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A woman allegedly punched her 3-year-old son in the head after he had wet the bed, and then turned on him with a vacuum cleaner pipe.
The Auckland woman is also alleged to have beaten her son with a sandal and dropped him head-first on to the floor.
The allegations are contained in documents that were released to the Herald yesterday after the 39-year-old's depositions hearing at the Auckland District Court.
Her lawyer, Ted Faleauto, conceded yesterday that she had a case to answer and she was ordered to stand trial in the High Court. She has pleaded not guilty to three charges: injuring with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, injuring with intent to injure and wilful neglect.
Police allege the woman, who cannot be named to protect the identity of her children, subjected her son to a brutal beating on June 30 last year after she found he had wet his bed.
A police summary of facts said the accused walked into the 3-year-old's room at 7.30am and found the bed wet. She allegedly then began punching him about the head and dragged him out of the bedroom before she picked him up and dropped him head-first on to the hard floor.
According to the summary, she left his room and walked into the living room where she called him in and then struck him with a vacuum cleaner pipe.
She wrapped him in blankets and placed him on the couch, occasionally checking on him during the day. At about 1pm she drove him to a friend's house in Glenn Innes. The friend realised the boy was very sick and called emergency services. He was rushed to Starship children's hospital where he underwent surgery to relieve pressure in his brain.
When she was spoken to by police, the accused admitted she hit the boy with a sandal on June 27 and that might have caused bruising. She denied ever causing any injury to his head. The woman's husband said she had never "bonded" with the boy like she had with her four other children because he had lived most of his life in Samoa with his grandparents.
He had never seen his wife hit the boy and told police: "I would rather die than see my son die." The man said his family were all strict Christians and knew they "had to tell the truth".
A doctor who examined the boy, Silvana Campanella, said the injuries would have been caused by a "violent physical assault" and "blunt force trauma to different parts of the body".
He said the boy's condition had improved faster than expected but he was still likely to have a significant disability for the rest of his life.
The woman has been remanded on bail until a High Court call over on April 8.
