The mother and uncle of a two-year-old kid have been accused for allegedly submerging him in boiling water before methamphetamine was detected in his system, according to court testimony.
Emma Jade Short, 34, was charged with criminal negligence on Monday in Elizabeth Magistrates Court, Adelaide, after a youngster was taken to the hospital earlier this month. Monday, 40-year-old Rodney David Clough appeared before the Port Adelaide Magistrates Court for the same accusation. He did not request bail.
Short brought her comatose kid to Blair Athol Medical Clinic on August 8, with the child suffering from severe burns and bruising, after sleeping at the Comfort Inn Manhattan, a nearby motel.
According to forensic paediatricians, the child’s injuries suggest he was immersed in boiling water.
The Adelaide Advertiser said that Short told police at the clinic that her kid was burned when he mistakenly turned on a sink faucet.
When she spotted steam spilling out of the sink, she instantly switched on the cold water, according to court testimony.
The court was informed by forensic paediatricians that the child’s neck injuries were likely caused by someone grasping his shirt.
The court heard that traces of methamphetamine were detected in the two-year-system old’s and that an investigation is being conducted to see whether the child had any brain problems “due to a lack of oxygen as a consequence of being immersed in water.”
Short disclosed to authorities in a formal interview that her kid was wounded while in Clough’s care.
She told the court that she left the duo and returned to find Clough ‘panicked’ and her son comatose on the bed.
During his argument for home-detention bail, Short’s attorney Vageli Dimou contended that her second description of the incident was ‘authentic.’
“She claims she was bewildered and distressed by the circumstance, and she was essentially shielding herself owing to the nature of her connection with the co-accused,” he said.
“When she is interrogated by authorities for the second time, she states that she is providing a true account of the events and that she was unaware of what happened to the youngster,”
‘Had she known, she would not have entrusted him to his caretaker’ (Mr Clough).
She wants to know what caused her child’s injuries, which seem to have occurred frequently.
Short was refused bail because she is deemed a “flight risk” after reportedly contemplating escaping the state on a bus to New South Wales with Clough, who had allegedly already purchased a ticket, according to court documents.
Later this month, Short will learn the result of her bail application, while Clough will stay in detention until his next scheduled hearing in December.