Craig Rowland: Baby’s injuries were ‘consistent with being shaken’

He also pointed to public health advice “that you should never, ever shake a child”.

Dr Newman said: “Shaking for a short period of time may be sufficient to create retinal haemorrhages that are seen here. A few seconds.”

When questioned by the defence about the amount of force required, Dr Newman said, “the amount of force involved in a shaking-type injury can be difficult to determine.”

“Once the threshold for injury has been reached, we don’t know that more haemorrhage means more force”.

He was asked if the gender of the perpetrator in a shaking incident mattered, and he said it did not.

Dr Newman also confirmed to the court that a layperson wouldn’t pick up the fact that Lewis had a retinal haemorrhage, as a person needs expertise and instruments.

But he said that a child with Lewis’ injuries “would not be behaving normally from a visual perspective”.

“He won’t be looking at things in a normal way”.

The judge asked Dr Newman if, in Lewis’ case, the degree of force was at the greater end of the spectrum, he told the court “yes.”

Mr Rowland, who is on bail, has previously pleaded guilty to a charge of wilfully neglecting his son.

The child’s mother, Laura Graham, has also pleaded guilty to the same charge.

The trial continues.