Suspect in suspicious death of baby boy has severity appeal dismissed

The man was arrested in the Upper Hunter after a significant police operation and manhunt following the death of the boy a few days earlier.

The man has not been charged in relation to the boy's death and the Newcastle Herald understands a post-mortem examination to determine the cause of death proved inconclusive.

However, the man was charged with two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm in relation to the boy.

Those charges are currently subject to a temporary stay in the local court until a coronial inquest into the boy's death can be held in February 2022, Newcastle District Court heard on Tuesday.

The man was also charged with assaulting the boy's mother on two separate occasions and smashing up a bedroom in the days before the boy's death.

The second incident, the court heard, occurred in the presence of three children and occurred during "another disagreement over the treatment of the child who is now deceased".

The man pleaded guilty to charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, common assault and damaging property in relation to the boy's mother and was jailed in Muswellbrook Local Court in October for a maximum of two years, with a non-parole period of one year.

He later lodged an appeal against the severity of the sentence, with barrister Steve Torpey telling Judge Kate Traill on Tuesday that the man had completed a number of domestic violence and drug addiction programs while in custody, which he said improved his prospects of rehabilitation.

Mr Torpey said his client had told him: "I am not proud of what I have done that is why I have done the domestic violence course".

"Perhaps he has undertaken the course also because of the death of the child," Judge Traill said.

After hearing submissions, Judge Traill mentioned she was considering imposing a harsher sentence and Mr Torpey ultimately withdrew the severity appeal.