“He was last seen alive by a neighbour on July 16.”
A post-mortem examination was conducted and the pathologist recorded the man’s cause of death as ischaemic heart disease.
“I am satisfied there are no suspicious or untoward circumstances surrounding the death,” Smith said in her decision not to open an inquiry into the man’s passing.
“This is a natural causes death and the cause of death has been established by post-mortem examination.”
Smith shared her condolences with the man’s family and loved ones.
At the time of his death, the man was scheduled to be sentenced for his involvement in taking his pre-term baby against medical advice from Middlemore Hospital last year.
The man was charged with neglecting a child in connection with his role in removing the baby from the neonatal unit despite dire warnings from clinicians.
He was scheduled to be sentenced in Manukau District Court on August 14. However, the day before the hearing, a registrar told the Herald the matter had been resolved on August 7.
The court later confirmed the man had passed away.
The man’s wife was also charged in connection with the incident. She is due to be sentenced at a later date.
Defendants warned the child could suffer ‘life-long’ brain damage if taken
According to a court summary of facts, the victim was born prematurely in the Middlemore Hospital parking area on June 8, 2024.
As a result of his early birth, at 34 weeks and five days, medical intervention was required in the neonatal unit.
“The victim was unable to maintain his own body temperature. He was placed in a temperature-monitored bed,” the summary said.
The child also could not feed properly and needed a nasogastric tube to obtain food and nutrients.
“As a result of not being able to feed himself, he was unable to maintain his own blood sugar levels.”
Between his birth and June 17, the infant remained under hospital care.
By that time, he was able to take in about 30% of his required nutrients from the bottle, but needed the remaining amount to be fed through his tube.
“He was being fed supplementally every three hours by hospital staff. While the victim was progressing and becoming stronger, he was still unable to sustain himself for more than a few hours without medical intervention,” the summary said.
His parents visited “very sporadically” throughout this period.
On June 17, both parents returned to the hospital with their daughter, violating the neonatal unit’s visiting policy, which does not allow visitors under 5.
When hospital staff reminded the defendants of the policy and recommended that one of the parents take the girl home, the mother became “enraged”.
The document said she told staff if they weren’t allowed to have their daughter there, they would leave with the victim.
“Despite hospital staff trying to calm her down, she demanded the nurse remove the nasal gastric tube from the victim’s nose.”
At least three different medical professionals, both nurses and doctors, attempted to intervene, reminding the parents that if the baby was removed from the hospital, he would be unable to maintain his blood sugar levels and temperature.
“One staff member told both defendants that the victim would likely suffer lifelong brain damage if he was removed from the hospital and his blood sugar dropped too low. They advised this would happen within a few hours.”
The pair refused to listen, and the mother told the father to collect the child’s capsule from their car so they could leave.
As the parents exited the hospital, the summary said staff continued to engage with them, making it clear that if the victim was removed, he would suffer significant health issues.
Despite the advice, the father walked out of the hospital at 5.44pm with a capsule containing the victim.
Police were alerted and tasked with locating the child, as were ambulance staff.
During this time, hospital staff were called by the mother, who expressed anger that police had been alerted.
“A doctor from the hospital reiterated to the [mother] over the phone that due to the limited amount of food the victim was consuming through the bottle or breast feeding, he was likely to have a seizure or die if medical attention was not continued.”
The mother became angry and hung up.
The couple were located by police about 9.35pm.
“They refused to let ambulance staff transport the victim and advised they would return the victim themselves,” the summary said.
After the baby was returned to hospital, the defendants stayed overnight.
The child did not suffer any significant injuries from the incident.
Katie Harris is an Auckland-based journalist who covers issues such as sexual assault, workplace misconduct, media, crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2020.
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