baby

Baby Bjay: Assault charge dropped against father Simon Adam Johnstone

A charge of assault has been dropped against a Tasmanian man whose six-week-old baby died from head injuries in 2012.

Simon Adam Johnstone of Railton was charged with assaulting his son, Bjay Johnstone, in October 2012.

The charge was laid after Johnstone gave evidence at an inquest last year into the baby’s death but was discharged in the Supreme Court in Burnie.

Mr Johnstone had previously been jailed for two-and-a-half years for ill-treating the child, and assaulting the baby’s mother.

In 2013, the Supreme Court heard Johnstone had begun physically abusing the child in hospital two days after he was born.

He choked and punched the baby to stop him crying, and threw him onto a bed.

The court heard Johnstone screamed in the baby’s face, stopped him breathing and cut the child’s mouth by forcing a bottle into it.

Police were unable to determine who inflicted the fatal injuries.

The inquest into Bjay Johnstone’s death is currently adjourned, awaiting the findings of Coroner Olivia McTaggart.

This post originally appeared on ABC News.

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