A THREE-MONTH-OLD girl suffered a fractured skull after she landed on something or was hit, a doctor told a jury yesterday.

Dr Matthew Snape, a consultant paediatrician at the John Radcliffe Hospital, was giving evidence about the injuries suffered by the baby in a trial where her father, Charlie Henderson, is accused of causing her grievous bodily harm.

She was taken to the hospital in August 2008 suffering a fractured skull, broken ribs and a broken ankle, the jury was told.

Henderson – whom the Oxford Mail can name today after winning an application to Judge Christopher Compston – denies three counts of grievous bodily harm with intent, and three counts of inflicting grievous bodily harm.

Dr Snape told how he examined the baby after an aunt noticed swelling to her head and raised concerns about her health.

Dr Snape said: “The skull injuries were most likely to be caused by trauma.

“Somehow there had been force to the skull.

“She had either landed on something or she had been hit.”

Dr Snape added rib fractures were a common sign of non-accidental injury, and added that a bang on the head from a toy could not have accounted for a fractured skull.

A bang on the head from a toy had been given as an explanation by the defendant for a bruise on the baby’s forehead, the court heard.

Dr Snape added that the term “non-accidental injury” was particularly relevant in paediatrics and usually implied that someone had caused the injury.

Richard Benson QC, defending, told the jury that Henderson, 25, of Trent Road, Didcot, had not suggested any particular reason for the baby’s injuries.

Mr Benson QC asked Dr Snape if bruising to the head suffered by the baby could have been caused by her being accidentally bumped into a doorframe or door and Dr Snape replied that it “was not impossible but it would be unusual”.

Mr Benson also raised the possibility that the baby had sustained rib fractures after being thrown a distance of six feet between two adults.

He asked Dr Snape: “Could that have caused fractures to the ribs if a child had been caught in that manner?”

Dr Snape replied: “Babies being thrown six feet is such a rare occurrence that I cannot say one way or another.”

The doctor also told the court that when he examined the baby prior to a skeletal survey, the rib injuries were not apparent and she was “alert, focusing well, and was neurologically normal at the time”.

The trial continues.