A pathologist told a jury that a five-year-old boy died after suffering severe head and abdominal injuries.
Haroon Bhatti was taken to Pinderfields Hospital on January 23 after his father Pazeer Ahmed told paramedics he had found him cold and unresponsive in bed.
Ahmed, 34 of Aberford Road, Wakefield, denies the boy’s murder but has admitted his manslaughter.
Yesterday, Dr Brian Rodgers told Leeds Crown Court when he examined Haroon he found a “Y” shaped fracture of the skull and his brain was swollen, with internal bleeding indicating “considerable force applied to the head.”
He told Julian Goose QC prosecuting: “I think we have to accept this is severe force to fracture the skull of a five-year-old.”
“In a child like this it is the sort of impact we see in a road traffic collision or the impact in a fall from a height such as a balcony.”
It could not have been caused by a slap or a smack, but was more likely from an impact against a wall or other hard surface.
The youngster also had fractured ribs, fresh injuries to his arms and legs, including one “curious triangular injury” which looked like a burn and older crusted abrasions on his foot.
He had extensive abdominal injuries including bleeding within the abdominal cavity and around the pancreas and liver and bruising to the diaphragm. Dr Rodgers told the jury he believed there had to be severe trauma to cause such a “cluster of injuries”.
“They are like crushing type injuries where the abdominal structures have been squashed against the spine.”
One forceful punch could have caused them or possibly someone kneeling on the abdomen “but considerable trauma when you have damage to these deep well protected organs.”
Scientist Samantha Warna told the jury a collection of hairs was recovered from the bathroom wall at Ahmed’s home, they had been impacted into the plaster near to an oval shape indentation. One of the hairs matched Haroon’s DNA.
Proceeding