UNEXPLAINED HEAD injuries which killed a 23-month-old boy were similar to those caused by a high-speed car crash or a fall from scaffolding, Dublin Coroner’s Court heard.
Jamie Sutton of St John’s Park in Waterford died at Temple Street children’s hospital on February 27th, last year, having suffered a significant fracture to the base of his skull. However, it was not clear how he had sustained the injury.
His mother, Zoe Sutton, said that on Thursday, February 25th, she collected Jamie from the creche and brought him home putting him down for a nap in his cot before leaving him in the care of her boyfriend, Kieran O’Meara.
She returned about 45 minutes later and on entering the house saw that Jamie had gone pale, his lips were white and his eyes were rolling in his head and he was losing consciousness. She felt a “big, squishy, fluidy lump” at the back of his head. Jamie had fallen from his cot – which was low off the ground – on several occasions, she said.
He had fallen down the stairs five days previously, but he seemed fine afterwards and was playing again within minutes.
Mr O’Meara said that while he had been looking after Jamie alone he heard a bang from upstairs. He found Jamie lying on the floor, shivering, pale and having vomited. He brought him downstairs to clean him up and then took him outside and held him in his arms while jumping on an adult trampoline to try to “perk him up”.
The couple brought Jamie to Waterford Regional Hospital by car where he was taken immediately into the resuscitation room.
Dr Norma Goggin, consultant paediatrician, said she did not believe Jamie’s injuries could have been caused by a fall from the cot. Jamie’s condition deteriorated and he was transferred to Temple Street children’s hospital.
Consultant paediatric neurosurgeon Muhammad Sattar said Jamie’s injuries were acute and that he believed they must have been sustained in the hours before he was brought to hospital.
The injuries were extensive, he said, and were similar to those he would expect to result from a high-speed car crash or a fall from scaffolding. Jamie continued to deteriorate and died on February 27th.
Creche attendant Ann Tierney said that Jamie was a generally happy, well-dressed and clean child. She noted several occasions when Jamie had not attended creche because he was in hospital.
Midway through February, he had come into the creche looking “almost disfigured” with the right side of his face swollen. This had been attributed to a fall from his cot by his mother, she said.
Deputy State Pathologist Dr Khalid Jabbar carried out the postmortem.
Jamie had sustained traumatic cranial and intercranial injuries due to blunt force trauma to the head. Dr Jabbar said there were two possible explanations for the injuries: a linear fracture sustained in the days prior to his presentation at hospital that had been exacerbated by the activity on the trampoline or an acute injury sustained during the 40-minute period when his mother had been to the shops.
Gardaí prepared a file for the Director of Public Prosecution who directed no prosecution take place. Coroner Dr Brian Farrell said it was not possible to determine the means by which the death came about and returned an open verdict.