A man accused of murdering a six-month-old boy blamed the child's mother for punching and shaking the baby, but admitted to police he had also dropped the child, a court has been told.
Newcastle Supreme Court heard Jie William Smith, 31, had been in a relationship with the baby's mother at the time the six-month-old died.
The baby had been solely in the care of Mr Smith at the time the child went into cardiac arrest in the early hours of February 9, 2019.
Prosecutor Neil Adams SC outlined an alleged timeline of events from the previous evening to the time the baby was fighting for life.
"The accused and [the boy's mother] spent many hours driving to various locations around Newcastle and the Central Coast for the purpose of sourcing drugs," Mr Adams said.
"There was a great deal of toing and froing and then [the mother] drove to another address with a second child and left the baby in the sole care of Mr Smith."
The court heard the mother woke to a phone call from Mr Smith in the early hours of February 9 to be told the boy had been taken to hospital.
The court heard Mr Smith told police he had dropped the baby while he was unsettled and feeding.
The prosecutor described Mr Smith's dealing with police when investigators arrived at the scene.
"The accused gave police a number of explanations, which the Crown says are not consistent with each other," he said.
"The autopsy said the cause of death was blunt-force trauma.
"The post-mortem examination showed an extensive scalp injury, fresh bleeding, and a 70-millimetre fresh fracture.
The prosecution's allegation is that the accused inflicted those injuries.
Defence argues mother punched, shook baby
Defence barrister Paul Rosser QC told the jury his client had indeed dropped the baby, but said he was not a murderer.
Mr Rosser said the baby's severe injuries were inflicted by the mother many hours earlier.
"Now we don't suggest these were full blooded punches that might have been swung at an adult.
"They were jabs with the side of the hand and followed immediately by vigorous shaking of the baby at least four times."
Mr Rosser said his client never wavered about his account of the baby boy slipping from his arms while feeding.
He said that could have been due to a potential seizure, stemming from earlier injuries.
He said the fall, coupled with the shaking and punching, could have played a collective role.
Cell bugged, calls monitored
The court heard Mr Smith had his police cell bugged while awaiting court proceedings.
Mr Rosser said he could be heard talking to another inmate about the mother allegedly punching and shaking the baby before he died.
Mr Rosser said a prison phone call between Mr Smith and the mother also included her telling him she loved him.
Mr Rosser said she wanted to keep him sweet so he would continue to lie.
The jury was told that before the trial Mr Smith pleaded guilty to manslaughter for failing to get the boy medical attention, but that plea was rejected.
The trial continues.
