GUILTY UK - Hollie Ashurst, 14 months, murdered, Wigan, 3 Jan 2019 *father arrested*

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  • #41
Day three:

2.15pm

Mr Tomlinson also confirms that Ashurst told paramedics that Hollie had fallen down "one or two" stairs, but that she got up and crawled back up them.

Ashurst told Mr Tomlinson he did not see Hollie fall but heard her cries, and believed she had banged her head on the skirting board. He tapped Mr Tomlinson on the left side of his forehead to indicate where Hollie has hit her head.

Baby Hollie Ashurst murder trial: LIVE updates from the third day of proceedings

 
  • #42
Day three:

2.20pm Hollie's mum arrives at hospital

Mr Tomlinson was filling out paper work in the reception at Wigan Infirmary, when her mum Leanne arrived. He took her through to the resuscitation room, where she had a brief conversation with Ashurst about what had happened.

Ashurst told her "she's breathing now so that's okay".

Mr Tomlinson explains that, sadly, this was not the case. Hollie was still not breathing, but her pulse had returned.

Baby Hollie Ashurst murder trial: LIVE updates from the third day of proceedings
 
  • #43
Day three:

2:30pm “His sequence of events were never exactly the same"

Mr Tomlinson, like Ms Pleace, explains that Ashurst's account of events differed depending on who he spoke to.

"He sometimes repeated the same comments, but then would say something different.

“His sequence of events were never exactly the same.”

Baby Hollie Ashurst murder trial: LIVE updates from the third day of proceedings
 
  • #44
Day three:

2:35pm "The information was sketchy"

"I approached the father to ask what had happened," says the next witness, paramedic James Curry.

He tells Mr Gozem QC: "It was very difficult to obtain. The information I was given that she had fallen down some steps onto a landing area.”

“The information was sketchy really and it was very difficult to obtain that information.”

Baby Hollie Ashurst murder trial: LIVE updates from the third day of proceedings
 
  • #45
  • #46
@HayLouise thank you so much for the trial reporting, we can all see what his so-called defence is, the convoluted lies, and changing of his story, no comment during six interviews and then all of a sudden, has what he thinks is a plausible story, full of ridiculous, drawn out coincidences and bad luck, I hope that the jury will see straight through it. I wonder if his QC will put him on the stand or not?
 
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  • #47
Day 4:

11.40am Judge and jury in

The case is now starting. Daniel Ashurst is in the dock. He's wearing a long-sleeved white shirt with a tie. Mr Justice Dove apologises to the jury for the late start, explaining he's had travel problems due to the weather.

We'll hear from a doctor this morning. The defence have another doctor on the line by videolink to hear what the prosecution's witness says.

The witness is Dr Daniel Du Plessis. He's a consultant neuropathologist at Salford Royal Hospital.

Both doctors came up with a statement on what they do and don't agree on and it's being read by the prosecutor. They begin with saying Hollie died from traumatic brain injuries sustained on February 28. They've looked at her head injuries. Both agree she had both a recent and older brain bleed, but the age of the older bleed is something they differ on.

Baby Hollie Ashurst murder trial: LIVE updates as proceedings enter second week


 
  • #48
Day 4:

12.05pm Witness gives evidence

After Guy Gozem QC, the prosecutor, read the agreed statement between the doctors, he's now questioning Dr Du Plessis.

The doctor says there was evidence Hollie's brain had been denied of blood oxygen supply.

Her heart stopped beating because of a "severe traumatic brain injury". He's explaining possible reasons for this. Her brain was swollen but not enough to cause her to stop breathing, so it could have happened because of physical force.

Hollie had a bleed on her brain. Usually severe accidental injuries lead to big bleeds which take up a lot of space, but Hollie's was patches of blood spread over the brain. This "favours" a non-accidental explanation, Dr Du Plessis says.

Hollie's bleed was caused by force, he says. It wasn't a natural cause. It was "traumatic in causage".

Baby Hollie Ashurst murder trial: LIVE updates as proceedings enter second week

 
  • #49
Day 4:

12.20pm

There was evidence Hollie had a previous episode of subdural bleeding on both sides of the brain. Dr Du Plessis believes this was weeks to up to a month earlier. The defence's doctor says it was weeks to months in age, he says.

Dr Du Plessis explains once someone has a bleed on the brain, they can be susceptible to more. He's satisfied there was no evidence of chronic haematoma in this case.

Baby Hollie Ashurst murder trial: LIVE updates as proceedings enter second week
 
  • #50
Day 4:

12.30pm

Hollie also had bleeding on her spinal cord. Research has found that this usually comes with other very specific injuries in accidental cases, none of which were found in this case, he says.

There was also evidence of older spinal subdural haemorrhage. Dr Du Plessis says he thinks that was a few days to up to a week old, but the other doctor believes it was weeks to up to months in age.

Nothing was found to suggest Hollie had any natural diseases that could be linked to her death.

Baby Hollie Ashurst murder trial: LIVE updates as proceedings enter second week
 
  • #51
Day 4:

12.40pm

Dr Du Plessis got a report on eye pathology which showed extensive bleeds in Hollie's eyes.

Hollie had brain swelling, bleeding on the brain and in her eyes. This is known as the "triad". It "points strongly towards a non-accidental injury event", he says, but isn't absolute proof.

He was at a conference of the Royal College of Pathologists in 2009 when this triad was discussed. The consensus was this triad could be a "strong pointer towards non-accidental injury but could not be regarded as absolute evidence thereof". Extra evidence is needed to firm up that possibility.

Baby Hollie Ashurst murder trial: LIVE updates as proceedings enter second week
 
  • #52
Day 4:

12.50pm

Dr Du Plessis looked at medical literature as part of his report. He says a lot of children go to hospital after falling on stairs, but the proportion that lead to serious or fatal brain injuries is "extremely low".

Severe retinal bleeds have been found in stairway falls but they are "quite rare, exceptional in fact", he says.

On falls where a parent is carrying a child down the stairs, doctors found space-occupying bleeds, not the kind Hollie had.

Baby Hollie Ashurst murder trial: LIVE updates as proceedings enter second week
 
  • #53
  • #54
Day 4:

1pm

Dr Du Plessis is explaining a "lucid interval" which happens when someone has a brain injury, but remains conscious initially before collapsing.

He says Hollie had a traumatic head injury involving excessive oscillatory (to and fro) movement, potentially with impact. Her injuries can't be accounted for with the explanation given.

The case is now finishing for lunch and will resume at 2.30pm.

Baby Hollie Ashurst murder trial: LIVE updates as proceedings enter second week
 
  • #55
Day 4:

2.35pm Judge and jury return

The trial is now continuing after lunch. Dr Du Plessis will now be cross-examined by Nina Grahame QC, defending.

She asks about the older brain bleeding. The court heard this morning it is possible for brain bleeds to occur during birth. Dr Du Plessis says he didn't totally discount this, but it did not contribute or cause what happened.

If a child had a less serious bleed on the brain, they would suffer pain but might not have any other effect, he says. Therefore a parent might not know about it.

There is discussion about whether there was a second older bleed. The defence's doctor says it's "possible" while Dr Du Plessis is "more confident" about it. He believes it took place two to six days before February 28.

Baby Hollie Ashurst murder trial: LIVE updates as proceedings enter second week
 
  • #56
Day 4:

2.50pm

Ms Grahame asks if the injuries Hollie suffered in the first fall could have been exacerbated by the subsequent falls Ashurst says happened. He says the first fall down two steps could not explain her injuries. "However the other two events alone or in combination could explain a fatal head injury and could explain some serious injuries to the brain," Dr Du Plessis said.

Baby Hollie Ashurst murder trial: LIVE updates as proceedings enter second week
 
  • #57
Day 4:

3pm

Dr Du Plessis was "quite confident" that Hollie's brain swelling and brain bleed had a traumatic cause. He then looked at the triad as she had bleeding in her eyes too. He is aware of concerns about the triad, which Ms Grahame is highlighting now.

She is now asking questions about a study he referred to this morning. He talked about a US study which says every six minutes a child is taken to hospital after some kind of incident on stairs. She says there's a problem with knowing if the incidents were accidental or not.

Ms Grahame's cross-examination has now finished.

After a question by prosecutor Mr Gozem, Dr Du Plessis says he's "100 per cent certain" Hollie died from a traumatic head injury. The question is whether this was accidental or non-accidental.

Dr Du Plessis has now been released from the witness box. The jury is being given a 15-minute break before some medical statements are read in court.

Baby Hollie Ashurst murder trial: LIVE updates as proceedings enter second week
 
  • #58
Day 4:

3.40pm Judge and jury return

The trial will now resume after a short break. Prosecutor Guy Gozem QC will be reading out some medical statements.

The first statement is from Prof David Mangham. He's a consultant pathologist and looks at fractures. He was asked to examine the sixth rib and right tibia and fibia. No bone disease was found. Fractures to Hollie's right tibia and fibia were confirmed. They were partial fractures and happened at the same time. This was just before or at the time of the hospital admission. No fractures found in her rib, it was normal.

The fractures to her tibia and fibia were suggestive of being caused by bending force. They could have been caused by either a direct blow or, for example, by someone gripping the foot or ankle and lower leg above the fracture site and imparting a bending force. The force needed would be "significant".

Baby Hollie Ashurst murder trial: LIVE updates as proceedings enter second week
 
  • #59
Day 4:

3.50pm

The next statement being read is from Prof Stavros Stivaros, a paediatric neuroradiologist at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital. He says there was no radiological evidence of direct impact of trauma to Hollie's head against a hard surface. Brain imaging suggests she was likely to have been subject to a "shaking type" injury. There may or may not have been impact against a "soft, yielding surface".

Hollie died at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital at 4.36pm on March 1 when life support was withdrawn.

The statement is continuing with the results of various scans. They showed Hollie had severe brain injury when she arrived in hospital. There was bleeding in various locations overlying her brain.

The professor's statement says Hollie had an "acceleration, deceleration type injury". Low-energy incident like a fall from a bed or two steps would not cause these injuries. They are seen in high-energy incidents like road traffic accidents at high speed or a major fall from height.

Baby Hollie Ashurst murder trial: LIVE updates as proceedings enter second week
 
  • #60
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