A toddler found dead with a catalogue of horrific injuries was killed by his mother’s violent boyfriend, a court has heard.
Two-year-old Teddy Tilston had bruises to his head, ear, upper lip, neck, jaw, abdomen and back as well bleeding on the brain when he was found dead at his home in Birkenhead on March 1.
Craig Smith – the partner of Teddy’s mother Ashleigh Willett – claimed the little boy had drowned in the bath, despite him being completely dry, Liverpool Crown Court heard.
Smith, 28, denies murder. Both Smith and Willett deny two counts of child cruelty.
Craig Smith (left) is charged with the murder of two-year-old Teddy Tilston (right), who was found dead with a catalogue of injuries at his Birkenhead home
Prosecutor Nicholas Johnson QC told the court Teddy’s twin sister had been taken to hospital earlier on the day of his death, with a head injury.
Medics were told the little girl had injured herself after running into a table – but hospital staff decided to keep her in after noticing other bruises.
Smith remained at home while Willett took the girl to hospital. That afternoon, he made a 999 call saying Teddy was not breathing are swallowing water in the bath.
Teddy’s mother is also in court charged with child cruelty. Prosecutors say she must have known her twins were being injured
When the ambulance arrived, within seven or eight minutes of the call, there were no signs of life in the toddler, who was prone on the floor and dressed in a nappy and vest.
He had a brain injury caused by lack of oxygen to the brain, which suggested he had survived at least 30 minutes after being injured, the court heard.
He also had bleeding on the brain which had occurred at least a week before his death.
Prosecutor Mr Johnson said: ‘The precise circumstances of what led to the 999 call at 2.25pm are known only to Craig Smith.
‘The prosecution say that he has never told the truth about them – and the reason for his failure to be truthful is that he used extreme violence on Teddy and has tried to cover that up with the bogus and dishonest story of a drowning.’
He added: ‘The bottom line was that Teddy did not drown. He was punched or kicked in the abdomen, and in all likelihood, according to the pathologist, there was an element of manual asphyxiation involved – in other words strangling or smothering.’
When interviewed, Willett told police she had ‘no idea’ about the injuries inflicted on the toddlers, including the broken wrist suffered by Teddy’s twins.
Tributes were left outside Teddy’s home in Birkenhead after his death on March 1
Mr Johnson told the jury it was ‘inconceivable’ the twins’ injuries could have gone unnoticed by the couple.
He said: ‘Both were responsible for the children and neither did anything and it was an escalation in the ill-treatment of these toddlers that led to both of them being separately admitted to hospital on March 1 whilst under the sole care of Craig Smith.’
Willett, wearing glasses and a black and white jacket, and Smith, wearing a grey jumper over a shirt and tie, were both in tears in the dock at times as the circumstances of the toddler’s death were explained. The trial continues.
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