Erith child murder trial: Toddler Rhys Lawrie had 'complex of bruises' (From News Shopper)

Erith child murder trial: Toddler Rhys Lawrie allegedly killed by mum's teenage boyfriend Cameron Rose had 'complex of bruises'

1:30pm Tuesday 9th October 2012 in News By Tim MacFarlan, Bexley and north Kent reporter

A PATHOLOGIST has described the “complex of bruises” on the body of a three-year-old boy allegedly murdered by his mother’s teenage lover.

Professor Anthony Risdon identified 38 separate external injuries on the body of Rhys Lawrie, whose mum Sadie Henry, 28, left him alone with boyfriend Cameron Rose, then 16, on three occasions at her flat in Columbus Square, Erith.

Rose, of Court Road, Eltham, is accused of murdering Rhys who had turned up with bruising twice before when left in Rose’s care, a jury at the Old Bailey previously heard.

Prof Risdon, an independent practitioner, carried out a post-mortem examination of Rhys at Great Ormond Street Hospital following his death on January 21 last year.

He told the jury of five men and seven women today: “In my opinion Rhys did receive significant head injuries just before his death.

“In my opinion this was an impact injury and was the immediate cause of his death.

“Such fatal injuries are unlikely to be caused by a fall.

“Such cases are exceptionally rare.”

During Miss Henry’s testimony the court previously heard how Rose claimed her epileptic son fell off a counter the second time he looked after him on January 17.

Prof Risdon had identified “extensive bruising on the face from the episode that occurred on the 17th” but ruled out these injuries as a cause of death, the court heard.

He was concerned by the possibility the toddler may have been grabbed by the ears by Rose, now aged 18, the jury heard.

Prof Risdon said: “Bruising to the inside of the ear is usually caused by an attempt to pick the child up by his or her ears; that is a suggestion it doesn’t prove anything.

“But it is something I noticed because it is a very unusual injury.”

There was a litany of blue, red and brown bruising on Rhys’s head, face, ears and the trunk of his body and he also had a broken fibula in his right leg, the court was told.

Rose denies murder and two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The trial continues.