The injury, a pinna haematoma, is common among rugby players, or at the very least "associated with significant force".

Again, came the expert opinion after the Thurgoona baby was assessed by Border ear, nose and throat surgeon Eliza Tweddle, this was something "not classically seen in a child six weeks of age".

The roll call of injuries mysteriously inflicted on "Samuel" (not his real name) continued.

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Three hours later - three years ago, on August 24 at 8.30pm - Dr Mark Norden, a GP and specialist paediatrician of 25 years' experience, examined the baby.

Samuel, he found, had posterior or rear fractures to his ninth and 10th ribs.

He had fractures to both his left and right femur bones in his thighs. A fibia bone in his lower right leg displayed evidence of early healing.

This was no accident.

It was simply not possible for a child of such a tender age to have suffered such things, not in the normal developmental play of a baby still months away from crawling.

Crucially, Dr Norden's report found, Samuel did not have any disorder of his metabolism "that could account for his bones breaking" in accidental circumstances.

The injuries clearly were of "non-accidental" origin, he said in his finding based on that examination of baby Samuel in 2017.

And that's because these were inflicted by his own father.

The now 41-year-old - who cannot be named so as to prevent identifying Samuel - has admitted as such, even if his guilty plea is qualified by comments he made in the family's Thurgoona home that were picked-up on a listening device installed by police.

These comments were made in a conversation with Samuel's mother after she asked him for his view on the possible cause of their son's injuries.

His response lay at the heart of an agreed set of facts arrived at after negotiations between the Crown and the man's defence.

"The offender suggested," these facts say, "that his rough play may have caused the injuries."

The man then described to the boy's mother how he had been "squeezing the victim too hard as he (the victim) was so cute".

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The cause of the leg fractures lay in him "cycling" the baby's legs "too fast".

Now living at Seymour, the man has admitted to his crime, his pleas entered before Albury Local Court by defence lawyer Jason Hanke.

This means the man no longer will face the possibility of a trial on the most serious domestic violence-related charge of causing reckless grievous bodily harm.

The negotiations resulted in DPP representative Alexander Dixon formally withdrawing this allegation.

With that, magistrate Richard Funston committed the man for sentence in the District Court in Albury.

A sentence date will not be set until he fronts the District Court for arraignment on January 22 on a charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

A second assault occasioning actual bodily harm matter will travel to the District Court as a back-up charge.

He will remain free on bail in the time leading up to his eventual sentencing, which might not involve full-time jail.

That came after Mr Funston agreed to a request from Mr Hanke for the preparation of a sentence assessment report on his client in order to provide information that might allow for a non-custodial penalty.

To complete the report, the man must report to the Albury Community Corrections office.

Samuel's injuries first became apparent on July 1, 2017, when he was six-weeks-old.

Between then and August 12 he suffered the non-accidental injuries in the home where his mother, father and paternal grandmother lived.

That was when he was taken to Albury hospital, but this was never going to be a quick visit.

Such was the extent of the harm suffered, Samuel had to remain a patient for almost another two weeks.

Twelve days in, he was discharged and taken home.

But by then the specialist assessments had long been made and the process set in train for the baby's father to be interviewed and charged.

Dr Tweddle's examination of Samuel took place at 5.30pm on the day that he was admitted to hospital.

She made the finding about the pinna haematoma that she would not normally expect to see in a baby of that age.

But also, Dr Tweddle noted that Samuel had no history of "easy bruising or bleeding".

This injury, Dr Norden found, was not the result of Samuel being struck.

After detecting the baby's broken ribs and leg bones, Dr Norden turned his attention to other symptoms that could provide clear evidence leading to a clinical diagnosis of the cause of the haematoma.

"He opined," the DPP agreed outline of the case says, "that the absence of bruising to the skull area around his right ear suggested that the injury was caused by 'pulling or twisting of the ear rather than a direct blow to the side of the head'."