Mason Lee ‘miserable’ in days leading up to his death: Paediatric surgeon

A paediatric surgeon has told a court that toddler Mason Lee would not have been able to keep food down before his death and that he would have been "miserable".

The 21-month-old was found dead at his Caboolture home last June, suffering from multiple injuries.

His mother Anne Maree Lee and her former partner William O’Sullivan are accused of manslaughter and child cruelty.

A teenager is also accused of manslaughter.

Professor Roy Kimble told the trio’s committal hearing that the small intestine rupture that eventually killed Mason probably happened between 48 hours to 5 days before the toddler died.

The court heard yesterday that the little boy’s cause of death was an abdominal injury that caused the small intestine to rupture, leading to an infection and sepsis.

Professor Kimble testified: "This child has had significant trauma to a lot more places", referring to photos he had seen of Mason’s body covered in bruises.

"This child would be very miserable with not being able to take in the fluid that is required in this situation," he said.

"From the actual injury, you would know there is something wrong with this child."

"This boy would be extremely uncomfortable."

It was also revealed Mason Lee had spent three weeks in hospital in the February before his death, suffering from severe nappy rash.

Doctors found a "chronic" and "extensive" rash around the genitals, including deep abscesses.

Dr Nicola Previtera treated Mason at Brisbane's Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital and testified: "I’ve never seen a rash as severe as the one I saw on his presentation to hospital."

Dr Previtera went on to say that "the lesions would have been painful" and "he would have been distressed."

Yesterday, there were explosive scenes in the courtroom as Mason's mother had to be restrained by guards during an outburst squared at O'Sullivan.

"What did you do to my son? You killed my son!" she screamed, while sobbing heavily.

The committal hearing continues.