By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim
On 29 October 2018, Griffith Base Hospital staff found multiple wounds and bruising on the body of 13-month-old Ella. The child was acting lethargic, and she was unable to open her eyes.
This was in stark contrast to how she had presented at the same hospital two days prior. And the multiple injuries included a fractured skull and bilateral corneal abrasions.
Leeton resident Mr Reyne and his wife Julia had been Ella’s foster parents for about three months, when on the evening of 28 October, the man rushed Ella to the local hospital, after he found the child to be in a “funny” and “confused” state. Ella was then transferred to Griffith by ambulance.
The Reynes had also been looking after Ella’s two-and-a-half-year-old brother Frank for about 14 months. But unlike the older of the infants, Julia was having difficulties in bonding with the new baby, and she put this down to her being responsible for the girl’s physiotherapy hip exercises.
During the hours between 10 am and up until about 7 or 8 pm on 28 October, Mr Reyne had been working in the backyard of the family home, while Julia was looking after the kids inside. At one point during the day, Reyne did recall hearing his wife yelling.
In a recorded interview at a later date, Julia said that she’d gotten Ella from her room at 12 pm to feed her lunch, which resulted in the baby vomiting three times and necessitated three separate baths and changes of clothing.
Julia further claimed she hadn’t noticed any marks or injuries on Ella’s body at noon but later in the afternoon, she noted a bruise on her forehead, which she put down to the child toppling forward and hitting her head on a toy.
Guilty as charged
Julia stood trial by judge alone in Albury District Court in September 2020. She was charged with one count of recklessly causing grievous bodily harm, contrary to section 35(2) of the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years’ imprisonment.
The Crown asserted that the accused assaulted the child between 10 am and 8 pm on 28 October, based on the fact that the injuries were not apparent to medical practitioners the day prior, that the harms were inconsistent with an accident and that she had a strained relationship with the girl.
NSW District Court Judge Sean Grant found Julia guilty of the offence on 6 November that year. He sentenced her to a 2 year long intensive correction order (ICO), which meant her time would be served in the community under strict conditions.
His Honour further found that the injuries to the girl’s eyes did not amount to grievous bodily harm but the fracture to her skull did warrant that categorisation.
Room for doubt
Reyne appealed her conviction to the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal (NSWCCA) on 25 July. She did so based on two grounds: that it was not proven beyond reasonable doubt that she caused the fracture during the essential time period and that the injury did not constitute grievous bodily harm.
In terms of proving that the fracture occurred on the day in question while Mr Reyne was in the backyard, NSWCCA Justice Hament Dhanji outlined that the trial judge had relied significantly upon the evidence of Sydney Children’s Hospital’s Dr Garside, who examined Ella on 30 October.
Garside explained that unlike other fractures, a crack to the skull can’t be aged via medical imaging, so one had to look at the supporting evidence.
The doctor pointed out that a 23 October head-to-toe examination of Ella found nothing wrong with her, and while the 26 and 27 October examinations were only “cursory”, the child did leave Griffith Base Hospital in a bright and chatty manner, which was the exact opposite to the next day.
Separate consideration was given to each injury, with some found to have possibly occurred during the time frame, while others happened earlier. But on the subject of the skull fracture, due to the nature of such injuries, Garside couldn’t determine if it happened during the hours in question.
“The medical evidence, such as the lack of observable injuries prior to 28 October 2018, establishes to my satisfaction that Ella suffered non-accidental injuries while in the sole care” of Julia, said Justice Hament, adding that this didn’t prove all injuries “were occasioned during that period”.
His Honour further pointed out that as some of the injuries, including an arm and a wrist fracture, were found to have happened prior to the day in question but weren’t picked up at the earlier examinations, left room for questions about the same happening in regard to the skull fracture.
So, given these findings, it was possible to consider that the fracture could have occurred prior to the essential time period, and therefore, a reasonable doubt did exist. So, the justice found the ground was upheld and the guilty verdict was unreasonable.
Grievous bodily harm
In terms of whether it was open to Judge Grant to determine that Ella’s skull fracture did amount to grievous bodily harm, Justice Hament found that this line of inquiry is usually a “quintessential” question for the jury, and it’s not usually open for the appeals court to reconsider.
However, as this case was judge alone, it was open for the appeals court to review the finding. In doing this, the three NSWCCA justices deliberated upon the evidence from Dr Garside, which showed the fracture to be quite significant in length.
And while the injury did not warrant surgery, it did need observation to ensure that the fracture healed properly with no damage to the brain. Ella was kept in hospital for a number of days, when she was observed to still be in pain. And it wasn’t until 2 November, that she seemed well again.
His Honour ultimately rejected this ground of appeal against the finding of grievous bodily harm, explaining that despite the fracture having healed, it didn’t take away from the fact that it was a “really serious injury” on admission to hospital, especially for a child of Ella’s age.
Conviction quashed
On 19 September, Justice Hament ruled that the conviction of Julia Reyne on the charge of recklessly causing grievous bodily harm be quashed, and further that she be acquitted of the crime.
And Chief Judge at Common Law Robert Beech-Jones and Justice Dina Yehia both agreed with the orders of their colleague.
* The names Julia Reyne, Mr Reyne, Ella and Frank are all pseudonyms
