Uncle denied bail after allegedly shoving two-year-old into scalding water

A South Australian man accused of submerging his two-year-old nephew in scalding water has lost his bid to be released on home detention bail.

Warning: This story contains content that some readers may find distressing.

Rodney David Clough, 41, has pleaded not guilty to charges of aggravated intentionally causing harm and criminal neglect.

Police allege Mr Clough’s nephew suffered “significant burns” to his face and chest after the man submerged the boy in a bathroom sink full of hot water at a motel last August.

Appearing at Adelaide’s District Court via video link on Wednesday, Mr Clough sat unmoved as Judge Paul Slattery refused his application to be released on home detention bail.

The court heard the man from Willaston, north of Adelaide, was living with his partner, Emma Jade Short — who is the mother of the child — along with the toddler in a motel in Enfield.

Judge Slattery told the court that CCTV footage indicated the 41-year-old was the only person at the motel when the child allegedly sustained the injuries.

Prosecutors dropped all charges against Ms Short in December last year.

Infant ‘pushed into the water’, court hears

In handing down his decision, Judge Slattery told the court that a forensic paediatrician found that the burns were consistent with the infant being submerged in water hotter than 60 degrees Celsius and that it “most likely” occurred in the bathroom sink.

The court heard the paediatrician also determined that an injury to the child’s nostrils was caused by “the infant’s face being pushed into the basin and the nostrils being affected by the ingestion of fluid”.

Judge Slattery also said the expert deemed the height of the tap was “well above” the child’s reach.

The court was told the child was driven by his mother and Mr Clough to a medical centre where an ambulance was called.

The court heard the boy was later hospitalised in a “largely unresponsive” state with a drug sample indicating he had ingested an excessive amount of Risperidone, a drug used to treat mental disorders, which he was not medically prescribed.

“Hospital staff said the infant had a concerning lack of consciousness and alertness, which would not be explained by the anaesthetics that had been administered,” Judge Slattery said.

“A bottle of the drug was allegedly found at where the child was staying.”

Accused remanded in custody

The boy was also allegedly found with multiple bruises to his forehead and skull, and a cut to his lip, which the paediatrician said was unlikely to have occurred “immediately prior to the hospital admission”.

Judge Slattery said text messages exchanged between Mr Clough and the child’s mother, Emma Jade Short, indicated a “sense of panic” from the uncle over what had happened to the child and that there was a discussion on “the need to flee the state”.

Speaking outside of court, Mr Clough’s sister, Teresa Clough said her brother deserved to stay behind bars after what she had heard during the hearing.

In refusing bail, Judge Slattery said the charges against the accused were at “such a high level of seriousness that bail in any form” was not warranted.

The judge said Mr Clough’s history of breaching bail and the potential for the accused and the child to interact under the proposed home detention address helped form his decision.

The 41-year-old has been in custody for almost a year.

He will face court again in September.