THE mother of a six-month-old boy who died after he suffered multiple serious injuries at a house in New Lambton in 2019 has denied that she "lost it" and repeatedly struck and shook the child because he wouldn't stop crying.
The boy's mother gave evidence for a third day on Friday during the murder trial of her ex-boyfriend, Jie William Smith.
Mr Smith, now 31, has pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to manslaughter over the death of the baby.
The prosecution say Mr Smith was alone with the boy during the two hours when he suffered numerous serious injuries, including a fractured skull.
But lawyers for Mr Smith say the boy's mother had repeatedly punched and shook the boy before leaving him with Mr Smith. They say Mr Smith was holding the boy when he likely suffered a seizure from the earlier assault and slipped out of Mr Smith's arms, hitting his head on the ground.
During cross-examination on Friday, defence barrister Paul Rosser, QC, suggested to the woman that she went inside the house at New Lambton about 2am on February 9, 2019, and while Mr Smith was dividing up some methamphetamine her son again started crying.
"At that point you picked him up, put him onto your lap and you said something like "why won't you stop crying"," Mr Rosser said. "And you hit him in the face twice, hit him in the chest twice and you shook him at least four times." The woman replied: "I didn't go inside".
The woman agreed she had sent a message earlier that day saying she was "going to lose it soon" because she was sick and her son would not stop crying.
But she denied that is what happened in the house.
