On the second day of his trial in Orange Supreme court, 21-year-old Matthew Allen James Dennis sat quietly while Crown Prosecutor Wayne Creasey replayed the call, which originated from the phone of a local resident.

Mr Dennis is accused of murdering a 23-month old toddler in a Dubbo unit on March 21, 2008.

The toddler cannot be named for legal reasons.

Nine witnesses yesterday came before the 12-member jury and Acting Justice Graham Barr.

Among them was Phillip Killeen, who was the first person to offer help on the morning in question.

Mr Killeen said he had been undertaking his normal duties when he heard the child’s mother scream.

Mr Dennis then knocked on the door and asked for help.

Mr Killeen called triple-0 and spoke to an operator before handing the phone to Mr Dennis.

When asked what had happened, Mr Dennis said “he hit his head in the shower last night, I didn’t think much of it”.

The operator can then be heard to give Mr Dennis instructions to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) as he tries to urge the child back to life.

Earlier in the day, defence barrister John Spencer heavily cross-examined a forensic scientist from the Division of Analytical Laboratories.

Items of clothing, as well as a blood sample from the deceased toddler, were sent to the division’s Lidcombe headquarters for analysis in the days after the death.

Clayton Walton from the division told the court two samples had been taken from a pair of denim shorts as well other stains from a green singlet and a Spiderman shirt that belonged to the toddler.

In his evidence, Mr Walton said all of the samples that underwent a screen test had come back positive for blood and the DNA had matched that of the toddler.

He also stated a statistical analysis revealed the chances of any other DNA matching that of the toddler was “less than one in 10 billion”.

However, under cross examination from Mr Spencer, he also conceded that the finding of the toddler’s DNA on Mr Dennis’ shorts could easily happen from the pair being in contact under any circumstances.

Other medical opinions were sought from Dr Robert Slack-Smith, a radiologist at Dubbo Base Hospital, and the hospital’s Accident and Emergency director Dr Randall Greenberg.

Dr Slack-Smith explained the results of X-rays and CT scans on the toddler’s brain and skull, which he said revealed extra cranial swelling and a fracture from the right side of the skull to the left.

He said more force would have been needed to cause the injuries than what occurs when a child falls off a chair or out of a pram.

Dr Greenberg examined the child after he had pronounced him dead and stated that he found bruising to its chin, left eye and behind both ears.

He also said he noticed signs of bleeding inside the child’s right ear.

Under examination from Mr Creasey, Dr Greenberg told the court that in his years of work as both a rural doctor and in accident and emergency, he had come across hundreds of cases where children had suffered head injuries.

He said those cases ranged from normal falls right through to car crashes and falling off roofs.

“But I’ve never seen any damage like this from any of those cases,” he said, before declaring it was very unlikely that the damage could have been done by falling from the arms of someone in the shower.

The trial, which is expected to last three weeks, will continue today.

ben.walker@ruralpress.com