Baby’s toes amputated

Press, 28 June 1989, Page 10

Baby’s toes amputated

NZPA-AAP Brisbane The force needed to turn on a hotwater tap has become crucial in a Brisbane court case against a young mother whose baby was so badly scalded his toes had to be amputated. The moter, a 22-year-old gym instructress, has pleaded not guilty to grievously harming her son, aged 10 months, in October, 1987. The Crown claims the woman, whose identity has been suppressed, held the baby in hot water in the wash basin at her home. She told the police the baby had

e turned the tap on after she left him briefly in the basin. An expert witness, Dr Duncan Gila mour, who holds a master’s degree in g engineering, told the Court yesterday he d had conducted a series of tests on the wash basin to determine the force - needed to turn the hot-water tap on. o Dr Gilmour also set up a test basin so 0 behavioural science experts could gauge the reaction of six babies of similar age e to the victim. e He admitted the study of turning taps ,t on and off “was not a science.’” The trial, before a jury of four women d and eight men, was continuing.