NSW: Former naturopath will stand trial for baby's manslaughter
By Kylie Williams
SYDNEY, Feb 13 AAP - Naturopath Reginald Fenn told the parents of a baby not to goahead with necessary heart surgery less than two weeks before the boy died, a court wastold today.
The 74-year-old allegedly claimed to have cured the baby with a device that controlledthe body's electro magnetic waves and told the parents the newborn would not withstandthe surgery's anaesthetic.
Mitchell James Little died on September 25, 1999, from a congenital heart disease.
He was just 17 days old.
Fenn, who no longer practices as a naturopath, has been charged with the child's manslaughter.
Today, he unsuccessfully tried in the NSW Supreme Court to have his February 24 trialmoved to Newcastle, near his Port Stephens home, because of his and his wife's ill health.
Baby Mitchell was diagnosed with the heart condition two days after his birth.
The following day the child's father took him to see Fenn, who he had known for 15 years.
"The applicant treated the child by way of a Mora machine and gave the child drops,"
Justice Graham Barr said today.
"He told the child's parents the child was healed."
A Mora machine picks up electro magnetic waves from the body and manipulates them beforetransmitting them back.
A form of electro acupuncture, it is used to treat headaches, muscular pain and circulatorydefects.
The baby's parents then took him to a doctor who told them he needed surgery, the court was told.
But the following day they returned to Fenn who told them not to go ahead with thenecessary operation.
"He told them not to let the doctors operate as the child would not be able to sustainthe administration of an anaesthetic," Justice Barr said.
"He again treated the child by means of an apparatus and again pronounced the child healed."
But less than two weeks later baby Mitchell was dead.
A coronial inquiry found he had died of the congenital heart condition.
Fenn today applied to have the trial moved to Newcastle because he suffers from facialparalysis, making it hard to speak, and his wife has recently had a stroke.
The court also heard that most of the witnesses were from Newcastle.
But Justice Barr denied the application, saying the courthouse was not available untillate June and there would be problems getting an available judge.
"This is an old case now," he said.
"I have a responsibility to ensure trials are dealt with in a reasonable time."
The trial will go ahead as scheduled.
AAP klw/nf/cjh/de
KEYWORD: FENN NIGHTLEAD
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