The mother of an injured toddler has admitted that she lied under oath, on the second day of the trial of her partner, who has been charged with harming the girl.
The crown alleges the man - whose name is suppressed - caused brain damage by violently shaking or slamming the 17-month-old girl on a day when she was crying and irritable.
It is the third time the case has been put before a Christchurch District Court jury, but the previous two attempts have ended prematurely.
The mother was in the witness box for a full day, but under cross-examination by defence counsel Richard McGuire, she admitted lying under oath at the earlier trial, and changing her statements to the police.
She acknowledged she had told police last week that she had lied about hearing a noise from the bedroom where the crown says the man had put the child to bed for a "time-out" when she was being naughty.
The man denies a charge of intentionally causing grievous bodily harm to the toddler, and an alternative charge of causing grievous bodily harm with reckless disregard for the girl's safety.
The names of the man, the child, her mother, and grandmother have all been suppressed.
The trial, scheduled for eight days, is before Judge Brian Callaghan and a jury.
Mr McGuire pointed out that the statement the mother made on the night of the alleged incident was different to the statement she made two weeks later when her child had been transferred to Starship Hospital in Auckland.
In the first statement, she had said it was she who had put the baby in the time-out and that she was the one who had found her injured on the floor. In the second statement, she said it was the man.
Mr McGuire spoke about the pressure she had been under at the time of the incident on October 25, 2006.
He said she was a solo mother, in a short-term relationship, who had found herself unexpectedly pregnant, and with an active and hyper toddler who she suspected of having attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Mr McGuire: "We know she already had bruises on her. Did you already give her a shake?
"No," the mother said.
Mr McGuire: "She kept grizzling and whining and you lost it for a moment in that bedroom."
The mother again replied no and she would never hurt her.
He then said the court could not accept what she said. She then admitted lying on oath and changing her statement.
Mr McGuire: "You know (the accused) hasn't done anything, don't you?"
"I sort of feel that way. I don't know what happened," she said.
She was then re-examined by crown prosecutor Mark Zarifeh.
He asked: "He is saying you hurt her. He says you did what the crown says (the accused) did. Did you do it?"
The mother denied hurting her daughter.
