Nine years after the death of a six-month-old baby that his family requested be referred to as James, a coronial inquest has heard from one of the persons of interest.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains images and names of people who have died.
On February 1, 2013, while several members of the family gathered at James's grandmother's house in southern Cairns, several noted the child's laboured breathing.
A few hours later he was found to be limp and unresponsive with blue lips and an ambulance was called, but James was declared dead at Cairns Hospital.
An autopsy discovered the child died after receiving extensive complex skull fractures.
Counsel assisting the coroner Molly Mahlouzarides told the court experts had said the injuries resulted from a blunt force trauma, could not have been accidental, and must have been inflicted within minutes or hours of him being discovered.
Examinations also discovered evidence of older injuries sustained at least a week before his death.
'A lot of frustrations'
Over the past two days the court first heard from Detective Sergeant Glenn Wallwork, as well as James' grandmother, Germaine Lenoy, and aunts.
Ms Lenoy told the court her daughter, James's mother Synoa Tabuai, had been excited at the thought of her first child, but Ms Lenoy later developed some concerns.
"She had a lot of frustrations," she said.
Ms Lenoy told the court she had sent her other children around to Ms Tabuai's house to check on the young family and had at one point considered taking James into her care, but then dismissed it.
Ms Lenoy and her daughters all testified they did not know what caused the baby's injuries and wept when the coroner told them they must have been delivered by someone in the home on the night in question.
Ms Tabuai's older sister Danielle Tabuai, and Danielle's husband Ehammed Anderson, also gave evidence.
Detective Sergeant Wallwork told the court that Mr Anderson was a person of interest, along with James's mother.
When questioned by Ms Mahlouzarides, Mr Anderson told the court James's mother was always "in a bad mood" and frequently went drinking, leaving James in the care of others.
Mr Anderson said he had also noticed James had not appeared well in the weeks leading up to his death.
He also described several incidents where he saw Synoa become frustrated and handle James roughly.
On the evening of February 1, Mr Anderson told the court he had been watching TV in the room where James was sleeping, along with another child.
At some point during the evening he said he and several others noticed James's rough breathing, but when they asked Synoa she told them it was normal.
Mr Anderson said he then fell asleep and when he woke, noticed James was unresponsive and had blue lips.
He said he alerted the rest of the family and Synoa rushed in and picked James up, screaming that he was not breathing.
Mr Anderson said he then took the child and commenced CPR while an ambulance was called.
Questions over phone call
Mr Anderson was questioned about a phone call he made to a detective in the days after James's death where he said he had seen mother Synoa nearly drop James.
He also told the detective he may have dropped the child on the table when performing CPR, but later said he remembered placing him on the table gently.
Ms Mahlouzarides questioned these actions.
"No," Mr Anderson replied.
When Ms Mahlouzarides told Mr Anderson the injuries required significant force and must have been inflicted on the night Mr Anderson shared a room with James, he responded, "Oh, rightio".
During questioning, coroner Nerida Wilson interrupted to ask Mr Anderson to look at several pictures from James's autopsy.
"That's his head — can you see the fractures, sir?" she said.
Mr Anderson said he was having difficulty remembering the night, given how long ago it was.
Ms Wilson replied, "I have some difficulty with that sir, that you mean that you cannot remember anything that might assist me form some conclusions about what or who caused those injuries".
The inquest will continue with Synoa Tabuai expected to give evidence on Wednesday.
