Christchurch Father Who Beat, Murdered 3MO Girl Says Trial Should Have Been Aborted

[Sugar Cookie]

A Christchurch man convicted of repeatedly assaulting and then murdering his three-month-old daughter continues to deny responsibility for the earlier injuries and says the baby’s mother had more opportunity to inflict them.

Michael John Topp also says he did not get a fair trial and the whole process should have been aborted after a Crown expert witness gave “inappropriate” evidence that “tainted” the jury.

Topp was jailed for life with a minimum non-parole period of 17 years after he was found guilty of murdering his 3-month-old daughter in December 2022.

He admitted causing the fatal injuries but denied the charge of murder saying he did not intend to kill the baby.

He also denied three further counts of causing his baby grievous bodily harm with intent.

The infant’s name has been permanently suppressed.

A jury found Topp guilty on all counts.

He appealed his convictions and sentence and his case was heard by the Court of Appeal today.

His lawyer, Phil Shamy, said there were two key issues.


The first was “damaging and dangerous” evidence given by a Crown witness about child abuse who had been “lauded as a world expert”.

“She had said people who killed are more than likely to be people who injure,” Shamy said.

“She said the literature tells her that… people who shake babies and kill them are likely to have done it before… done other injuries.

“I do not say that [she] did something or said something on purpose to somehow taint the trial… that… I’m just not of the view that [her evidence] was overly necessary. The evidence that was provided by the expert was so damaging and so dangerous.”

The matter was raised in court by Shamy, and Justice Ann Hinton gave a direction to the jury that the evidence was not admissible and they were not to rely on it in their deliberations. She also ordered the evidence be struck from the official record and did not appear in the daily transcript provided to jurors.


However, Shamy said the situation was “incurable” and the trial should have been aborted - which he requested at the time.

“The problems with this type of evidence is… that what you‘ve heard cannot be unheard,” he said.

“It was clearly very important evidence and I know… courts usually do have confidence, generally that directions will cure problems. But this court, in my submission, could not be satisfied that this man had a fair trial, given this type of evidence, having gone to the jury.

“In my view, this was simply incurable… and although the step is obviously a large one, this trial, given that it involved the murder of a child, needed to be aborted.”

Shamy said the appeal point was around who caused the injuries to the baby before the fatal assault.

“Mr Topp accepted that he had killed his daughter… the issue in terms of the other charges is whether he had committed them… one of the key matters was the issue of opportunity,” he said.

“They were both living in the house - Mr Topp and [the baby’s mother]. [Her] evidence indicates that Mr Topp spent a great deal of time working… long shift hours. Similarly, he spent a great deal of time going to the gym.

“So in my submission, the opportunity was there for [the mother] - probably more so than Mr Topp.”

Continue reading testimony about mother

Christchurch man who murdered his baby tells Court of Appeal her mother inflicted earlier injuries

A Christchurch man convicted of repeatedly assaulting and then murdering his three-month-old daughter continues to deny responsibility for the earlier inju

www.newstalkzb.co.nz

Topp’s daughter had been unwell during the night and her mother sat up with her. At 9am, Topp took over so the woman could sleep.

At 12.25pm, he carried the baby into her mother saying she had been feeding and “seemed to start choking, coughing and gagging”.

She had been limp and gurgling for about 10 minutes.

The mother called 111 and paramedics arrived at 12.35pm.

The baby was rushed to Christchurch Hospital where she was intubated and admitted to intensive care. Doctors ascertained she had an unsurvivable head injury as well as multiple fractures to her body.

She was later taken off life support and died within 10 minutes.

It was later revealed she was the victim of “repeated significant trauma and abuse” in her short life.


Along with the fractures, she sustained two severe head injuries before the final and fatal catastrophic blunt force trauma.

Police said the injuries could only have been caused by Topp “yanking, pulling, smacking, sticking, squeezing, or applying pressure” to her tiny body parts.

Topp was charged with murder and three further counts of causing his baby grievous bodily harm with intent.

He admitted causing the injuries that killed his baby girl - but denies the charge of murder.

Rather, Topp said the death was a case of manslaughter.

At sentencing, Justice Anne Hinton accepted Topp’s offending was not premeditated, but it was significantly violent and reckless.

“You abused your position of trust - she should have been safe in your care. She was the opposite.”

Justice Hinton did not accept Topp’s claims of remorse, saying she did not consider him “genuine”.

Christchurch man who murdered his baby tells Court of Appeal her mother inflicted earlier injuries

A Christchurch man convicted of repeatedly assaulting and then murdering his three-month-old daughter continues to deny responsibility for the earlier inju

www.newstalkzb.co.nz

The Court of Appeal judges reserved their decision.

 

[thuumpr]

Not too late to abort him!

 

[Sugar Cookie]

Topp has unsuccessfully challenged his conviction and sentence multiple times: [1, 2]

• Court of Appeal: In July 2025, the Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal, rejecting claims that the trial was unfair due to "tainted" expert evidence.
• Supreme Court: His second appeal was dismissed by the Supreme Court in November 2025.
• Additional Allegations: Following the conclusion of his appeals in November 2025, name suppression was lifted on further details, revealing that Topp has also been accused of abusing a second infant.

Chch baby murderer loses appeal over 'tainted' conviction claims

The Court of Appeal dismissed Michael Topp’s appeal against his murder conviction.

www.nzherald.co.nz