Baby bashing trial: pre-sentencing proceedings postponed

The trial of a couple convicted of being accessories in the attempted murder and serious assault of their two-month-old premature twin babies has been postponed for pre-sentence reports.

Judge Eben Jordaan on Tuesday postponed the trial of the 28-year-old father from Rayton and the 26-year-old mother from Kempton Park to May 31.

He said he wanted social workers to specifically look at the circumstances of the couple’s son, who is permanently disabled and is presently in the care of the mother’s parents.

The baby boy was rushed to hospital in the early morning hours of Christmas in 2012 with a cracked skull and brain bleeding, for which he had to receive emergency surgery to save his life.

He had bruises on both ears, his fingers and buttocks.

He is now severely disabled and will never be able to lead a normal life.

His sister had four fractured ribs and an infection in her leg which had already started to heal.

Judge Jordaan rejected the couple’s evidence that they had no idea how their children were injured.

He said it was clear that they had concocted a story to either protect each other or to evade responsibility as accomplices.

He said although it was uncertain who had assaulted the babies and under what circumstances, it was probable that they had been assaulted in a fit of anger.

Medical experts testified that extreme blunt force was necessary to break the pliable bones of the babies and said they would have been in tremendous pain.

The children were in the care of their parents when they were injured, could not have been injured in silence and both parents had been aware of their serious injuries, the judge found.

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