THIS is the “habitual liar” branded a “massive risk to young children” having previously left his own child with a fractured skull.

Yet the authorities were not even aware that Hamid Baldelli had once again become a father. Had they been, it is likely his son Nico Maynard would be alive today.

Instead the three-month-old was found face down in his Moses basket by the man, who a High Court judge subsequently ruled had likely been responsible for harming him.

What followed, as authorities investigated Nico’s death, was a catalogue of lies including false details on the youngster’s birth certificate. His mother Jodie Maynard was implicit in the lies. Yesterday, as an inquest was held into Nico’s death to try and establish how he died, neither his mother or father were there.

The court heard through evidence from police how Mr Baldelli, 28, and Ms Maynard, 27, had told police that baby Nico was unsettled and grisly the day before he was found dead.

Although initially not treated as suspicious, inquiries by Hampshire police found that Mr Baldelli had previously been jailed for child cruelty, where a child of his – who he had in another part of the country with a different partner – was found with a fractured skull and other injuries.

A subsequent examination of Nico, who had a twin sister, found that he had previously suffered a leg fracture and had also had a fractured skull along with an associated brain injury which had been inflicted up to several days before his death on September 22, 2011.

Southampton Coroners Court heard how an examination of his sister found that she also suffered a fractured leg and was suspected to have a skull fracture which appeared to be healing.

Both Mr Baldelli and Ms Maynard were subsequently arrested on suspicion of Nico’s murder.

Neither could give any plausible explanation for how the children had come by their injuries other than suggesting that Nico had fallen off the sofa on to a carpet some two weeks before his death.

However, giving evidence at the inquest, pathologist Russell Delayney said several experts had not been able to pinpoint the exact cause of death.

He said that there were three factors involved, the skull fracture and brain injury, the fact the child was face down in the basket – a well known risk factor in sudden infant death – and the fact Nico had a chronic lung inflammation that could have contributed to his death.

He said: “It’s possible that Nico died as a result of the cumulative effects of all these three factors conspiring to cause his sudden death, although it’s not possible for me to pick out any one of these factors and say one was more significant than the others.”

Coroner Keith Wiseman read extracts from a family court hearing which was dealing with the care of the surviving twin and in doing so, examined Nico’s death in detail. In that case Mr Justice Baker found that on the balance of probabilities, a lesser burden of proof required than in the criminal courts, Mr Baldelli had inflicted the injuries to both children.

During those proceedings the court heard a probation report following Mr Baldelli’s release from prison for his previous child cruelty conviction.

In it he was described as being “a massive risk to young children” and that should he have any further children he was to informthe local authority.

The court was told that not only did the couple not do that, but they also gave a false name on the children’s birth certificate in order to evade detection.

The family court proceedings also heard evidence of Mr Baldelli’s “uncontrollable temper” and that he was a man who was “prone to bouts of anger.”

He was also described by the judge who heard evidence from him, as an “unimpressive witness” and “a habitual liar”.

In delivering his findings Mr Justice Baker described Ms Maynard as showing “an appalling failure to protect her children.”

She too was described as having repeatedly lied to those involved in the proceedings, including the court.

He added that had the couple been truthful to the authorities, then Nico might well have been alive today.

Neither parent, who had been living at Grange Road in Shirley at the time, was ever charged over Nico’s death or the injuries to his sister, after the Crown Prosecution Service decided there was not enough evidence to be sure who carried out the injuries, how they happened and the inconclusive nature of the pathology reports.

In recording an open determination Keith Wiseman said the verdict reflected the degree of uncertainty about the circumstances surrounding Nico’s death.

Timeline of events

September 21, 2011

• 7pm: Nico put to bed by Mr Baldelli at the one-bedroom flat the family shared.

• 10pm: Couple went to bed themselves, each child sleeping in a separate Moses basket in their parents’ room.

September 22, 2011

• 4.30am: Mr Baldelli awakes to use the toilet and notices Nico lying lifeless in his basket and ambulance called.

• 5.04am: Nico pronounced dead in hospital.