- DAY ONE: Mother weeps as alleged baby killer’s trial begins
- DAY TWO: Court hears of baby’s final hours
- DAY THREE: Father’s trial continues
- DAY FOUR/FIVE: Pathologist testifies in child homicide trial
- DAY SEVEN: Father questioned in interview recording
- DAY EIGHT: Court hears accused father ‘snapped’
- DAY NINE: Jury urged not to try to ‘give closure’
The Supreme Court has heard a man accused of shaking his daughter to death had “no idea” how her injuries happened when interviewed by police.
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Joby Anthony Rowe, 24, was questioned by the homicide squad shortly before the death of his daughter, Alanah Rowe, on August 30, 2015.
Mr Rowe has been charged with child homicide and on Thursday the jury in his trial was played a video recording of the interview in which he denied hurting the three-month-old.
On the tape, Mr Rowe said Alanah had been “really good except for probably the last four days or so” before she was rushed to hospital on August 29, during which time she had become “distressed” in the evenings.
“It's like she's way over-tired and she won't go to sleep,” Mr Rowe told detective senior constable Glen Scharper in the interview.
“It doesn't matter what you give her it just won't satisfy her.”
During the interview, Senior Constable Scharper asked Mr Rowe if it was possible he was frustrated while he was alone with Alanah on the day in question but Mr Rowe said nothing had made him “cranky”.
He said Alanah’s crying did get “overwhelming” but he had “pretty good patience”.
“I get frustrated but I would never hurt my kid,” he said.
“No way would I ever hurt her, no way in the world, no way.”
In the interview, Senior Constable Scharper asked Mr Rowe if he had been “excessively rough” with Alanah, which he denied.
“Probably the roughest thing I done was bounce her up and down,” he said.
“I wasn't shaking the shit out of her, I was just lifting her up and down.”
Throughout the interview, Mr Rowe maintained Alanah had choked on her bottle while he was feeding her shortly before her mother, Stephanie Knibbs, arrived home from work.
“She was sucking on it flat out and then it all went down in one,” he said.
“I just don't understand how all this happened over a bottle, all I did was give her a bottle.”
The trial continues in Bendigo next week.