Burns, bruises and METH: How Little Jimmy Clough, 2, was criminally neglected in twisted family feud
ELIZABETH, ADELAIDE: Little Jimmy’s uncle was in a long-running dispute with his brother. A two-year-old boy Jimmy's mother and uncle have been charged after it was claimed that the child was immersed in boiling water and meth was discovered in his body. Following the toddler's emergency admission to the hospital earlier this month, Emma Jade Short, 34, was charged on Monday with criminal negligence in Elizabeth Magistrates Court in Adelaide. On Monday, August 15, 40-year-old Rodney David Clough appeared before the Port Adelaide Magistrates Court on the same accusation.
New details about Clough's tumultuous background have surfaced, revealing that he was engaged in conflict with his younger brother, who is Jimmy's father. The court was informed that Clough is both Short's boyfriend and the toddler's uncle. On June 25, Clough posted a Facebook complaint about his strained connection with his family, claiming it had led to his mother expelling him from the house.
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He wrote, “So my mum won't let me live where I was because my younger brother has a problem with me so she leaves my stuff outside and said I don't live there no more. Now I contact my brother by messenger and again he doesn't reply mum does and tells me to leave rex alone he didn't do what you're accusing him of and to leave them alone. Well, mum Mabey let your sons sort their s*** out themselves and stop picking sides because you did pick sides which made me and you fight and ruin what little life we ever did have.”
Inside the bitter family feud surrounding toddler, 2, found with 'serious burns and METH in his urine' after allegedly being neglected by his mum and her boyfriend (who is also the child's UNCLE) https://t.co/HLqjRgYqp3
— Daily Mail Australia (@DailyMailAU) August 19, 2022
Meanwhile, Jimmy was hospitalized for 10 days to receive medical attention for his injuries before being released on Thursday, August 18. The toddler had severe burns and bruises when Short brought him to Blair Athol Medical Clinic on August 8 after staying at a nearby motel, the Comfort Inn Manhattan, according to testimony given in court. The bruises on the child's neck, according to forensic pediatricians, were probably caused by someone grabbing the toddler's clothes.
The youngster had been immersed in boiling water, and forensic pediatricians testified to the court, based on the damage he sustained. According to the Adelaide Advertiser, Short told police at the clinic that her son got burned after inadvertently turning on a sink faucet. The court heard that as soon as she spotted steam coming from the sink, she turned on the cold water right away. The court heard that the prosecution claimed that methamphetamine traces were discovered in the two-year-system old's and that they are currently looking into whether the youngster may have suffered any brain problems due to a lack of oxygen as a result of being submerged in water. Short admitted to the authorities during a formal interrogation that Clough was caring for her son when he was hurt.
Short's attorney, Vageli Dimou, claimed that her second account of the events was true while seeking for home-detention bail. He said, “She says she was confused at the situation and upset, and she was, in essence, protecting herself due to the nature of whatever this relationship is with the co-accused. When she is interviewed on the second occasion with police, she says she gives her truthful account of what occurred and that she was not aware of what happened to the child.” “If she had been aware she would not have left him in the care of (Mr Clough). She wants to know what has happened to her child – what appears to have happened repeatedly to her child – causing these injuries,” he added.