A Queensland man accused of punching his two-year-old son in the stomach and rupturing his bowel claims the boy hurt himself playing with his sister.
The 29-year-old man appeared in the Ipswich District Court yesterday to contest a charge of grievous bodily harm over the incident in October 2007, the Queensland Times reports.
The court was played a police interview recorded with the man two days after the incident in which he claimed he was in another room at the time.
"I didn’t see anything happen," said the man, who cannot be named.
"[My wife] said she saw the two kids running down the hallway [then my son] looked back at his sister... [My wife] heard a bang and then he started crying."
Prosecutor John Copley told the court the boy suffered a ruptured bowel, causing severe vomiting and fluid to leak into his body.
He was taken to hospital the next day and underwent emergency surgery, later making a full recovery.
Doctors believe the boy may have suffered irreparable damage or even death if the injuries had remained untreated, the prosecutor said.
Mr Copley said medical experts would testify that the boy’s injuries were not consistent with his father’s story.
Both the boy and his five-year-old sister later told police that the man had punched the toddler in the stomach, the prosecutor said.
The trial continues.
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