THE DAD of a toddler whose healing bones were discovered when he was admitted to hospital with facial injuries has admitted wounding the boy.

Dwayne Gordon, 34, was on the cusp of giving evidence to jurors at Oxford Crown Court on Monday when his barrister indicated to the judge that his client may change his pleas.

In the afternoon, he returned to court and pleaded guilty to allegations of causing grievous bodily harm, actual bodily harm and neglecting his then 17-month-old son over a six month period.

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Bailing him to return for sentencing on June 30, Judge Ian Pringle QC said: “Those are serious offences and in due course I will need to sentence you in respect of them.

“The fact I am adjourning for a month for a pre-sentence report should not be taken by you as any indication of the sort of sentence you should receive. Do you understand?”

Prosecutor Corinne Bramwell said the Crown ‘had some observations’ about Gordon’s basis of plea, which was not read out in open court, but acknowledged it may not make a significant difference to the sentence he would receive.

The defendant’s pleas came after the prosecution had closed its case and two defence witnesses gave evidence on Friday.

During the six-day trial, jurors heard that Gordon’s then 17-month-old son, who we are not naming, was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital in January 2019 with injuries to his face.

He was said to have sustained them the night before, when he was being babysat at his Oxford home by dad Gordon while the mother enjoyed a night out with a friend. Gordon had messaged the woman at around 9pm that evening, saying the boy’s ‘face is f***ed’.

The dad, who was living in Northampton at the time, claimed the toddler fell over with his beaker in his mouth – leaving a distinctive mark around his lips.

Doctors were suspicious about other bruises on the boy and his bloodshot eyes. Dr Janet Craze, who treated him, told jurors she believed bruises on his cheek were from a slap. “That is something, sadly, all paediatricians have seen before.”

READ MORE: Neglect trial told of slap mark to boy's face

X-rays revealed that the boy had broken the arms in both lower arms, near his wrists, in the preceding month-and-a-half. His nursery had also recorded more than half a dozen occasions when he had come in with injuries. A staff member at sports group ‘Soccer Tots’ said he had attended a session in December 2018 with ‘deep’ bruising and bloodshot eyes.

Gordon, of Kingsland Gardens, Northampton, will be sentenced on June 30 alongside the boy’s mother, Katie Lake, who admitted neglect at an earlier hearing.

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This story was written by Tom Seaward. He joined the team in 2021 as Oxfordshire's court and crime reporter.  

To get in touch with him email: Tom.Seaward@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @t_seaward