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David Grant Sinclair is on trial in the High Court at Greymouth for the murder of his 10-month-old son.

A Hokitika baby died with 30 bruises all over his body, fractures to his skull and bleeding on the brain and behind both eyes.

The Crown says the fatal injuries were inflicted by his father but his father alleges they were sustained from a fall down the stairs.

David Grant Sinclair is charged with murdering his 10-month-old son, CJ Bodhi White, at Hokitika on July 9, 2019.

A jury trial began on Monday in the High Court at Greymouth before Justice Rebecca Edwards. It is set down for two weeks and 27 witnesses plus Sinclair himself are due to give evidence.

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CJ Bodhi White died aged 10 months in Hokitika on July 9, 2019. His father, David Grant Sinclair, denies murdering the infant.

Crown prosecutor William Taffs said CJ had been in Sinclairs fulltime care for only six weeks before his death.

He said Sinclair told his family, first responders and police he fell asleep with CJ in his bed and was woken between 3am and 4am by a thud from CJ falling out of bed.

Taffs told the jury CJ had not been sleeping well because he was teething and would have been in significant pain from injuries inflicted earlier by his father, including a fractured bone in his foot and bruising to his groin and scrotum.

He said Sinclair put his phone into incognito mode at 3.27am and searched: Does a babys head flop backwards from concussion.

He then accessed several apps including a gambling site and checked the weather forecast.

At 4.17am, he again searched: Why has my 1-year-olds neck gone all floppy after falling out of bed?

He then sent a message to his mother asking her to call him.

When she rang, he told her CJ had fallen out of bed. She arrived at the house less than 10 minutes later, began CPR and rang emergency services.

CJ was unresponsive and was flown to Christchurch Hospital but doctors ruled out surgery because his injuries were unsurvivable. His life support was turned off at 11.40am. He was declared dead 25 minutes later.

CJ had 30 bruises across his body, significant brain injuries, skull fractures, soft swelling to his skull, bleeding to both retinas and swelling, cuts, bleeding and clots on his brain.

Several medical professionals would give evidence that the injuries were not consistent with a fall out of bed on to a carpeted floor. They were consistent with his father hitting his head against a hard object or hitting his head with a hard object, Taffs said.

He had too many bruises in all the wrong places to be accidental. Bruises consistent with finger marks ... inflicted in what the Crown says was a moment of anger or frustration.

Taffs said Sinclair had told medical professionals the historic bruises were caused when he caught CJs leg in the car seat buckle and from CJ hitting himself with a rattle.

Defence lawyer Andrew McKenzie said the jury would be presented with two vastly different scenarios.

He said Sinclair would give evidence that CJ had fallen down the stairs. The defence would also present evidence from experts.

David Sinclair is guilty of taking too much time to call 111. He is guilty of lying to police and lying to people about his baby falling out of bed. He is guilty of not taking steps to remove the risk of his baby falling down the stairs.

He is not guilty of the crime of murder, McKenzie said.

Joanne Carroll/STUFF

The jury trial is set down for two weeks and 27 prosecution witnesses will be called to give evidence.

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Hokitika father charged with murder initially claimed son fell out of bed - Stuff.co.nz