Stuart John McMaster
In Aug 2007, Stuart John McMaster was sentenced to 13 years' jail for brutally bashing his fiancé son, 5 years old Cody Hutchings, to death.
5 years old, Cody Hutchings, was bashed to death by his mother's fiance, Stuart John McMaster. Cody was covered in more than 160 bruises and had two skull fractures .
A boy, 5, bashed to death by his mother's fiancé was covered in more than 160 bruises and had two skull fractures, a murder trial jury has heard.
Cody Hutchings's horrific injuries were inflicted by Stuart John McMaster as part of a violent discipline regime, the Supreme Court was told.
Cody died on March 25 last year at the Hoppers Crossing home he shared with his mother, Belinda Jane McMaster, 26, and Mr McMaster.
Mr McMaster, 30, has pleaded not guilty to murdering Cody.
Prosecutor Colin Hillman, SC, told the jury a pathologist had found Cody died as a result of blunt-force trauma to his abdomen that caused internal injuries, including a torn liver.
"The injuries that caused death were not an isolated incident but were part of a continuing series of events inflicting violence and injuries to Cody," Mr Hillman said.
Mr McMaster, who had a heroin addiction, was referred to at home as "the strap man" and would regularly strap Cody with a leather belt, slap him in the face and push him in the stomach with his foot when the boy misbehaved, the court heard.
Mr Hillman said Mr McMaster had told police he would fly into an uncontrollable rage when the toddler, who suffered from Williams syndrome -- characterised by clumsiness and mild development delay -- acted up.
"I just lose my mind and I don't know what I'm doing," he allegedly said. "I'll be fine, and then it's like I snap my fingers and I go off the handle, and it's like I'm fighting with an adult."
Ms McMaster told the jury that her fiancé would sometimes lose control and go crazy, taking out his anger on Cody.
"He'd start belting Cody: smack him across the legs and the bottom, open-hand slaps to his face, stomach and chest," she said.
"It wouldn't take much to set him off . . . it was a horrible time.
"I told him to stop, to get some help . . . You don't use that type of force on children," she said.
"It was very extreme discipline."
Mr McMaster allegedly told police he struck Cody up to 25 times the day he died, but could not remember what he was punishing him for.
The court heard that on that day, Mr McMaster had a fight with his fiancé over a $2 bus fare and later disciplined Cody by sending him to the "naughty room", where he struck the boy repeatedly to the head, chest and stomach.
When Ms McMaster returned home later that afternoon, she found her son bleeding and his head bandaged. She was told Cody had slipped and hit his head on the toilet bowl.
Paramedics were called when Cody became unconscious at the dinner table and couldn't be roused.
He was pronounced dead after attempts to resuscitate him failed.
Mr Hillman told the jury that forensic pathologist Dr Malcolm Dodd had found more than 160 detectable bruises on the youngster's body, two skull fractures, and tears to his liver and mesentery.
"Dr Dodd will tell you blunt-force trauma to the head and abdomen is what caused Cody's death," he said.
Defence lawyer Gavan Meredith told jurors they would have to determine what Mr McMaster's state of mind was at the time of Cody's death.
Mr McMaster has also pleaded not guilty to intentionally injuring Ms McMaster and to an alternate charge of recklessly causing serious injury.