Ayeeshia Jane Smith was heard saying 'stop mummy, stop daddy' just days before she was allegedly murdered by one of her parents, a court heard
The 21-month-old girl believed to have been stamped to death by one of her parents had eaten only three 'snacks' on the day of her murder, a court heard today.
Ayeeshia Jane Smith was heard saying 'stop mummy, stop daddy' just days before she was killed by her mum, Kathryn Smith, and her partner, Matthew Rigby, jurors were told.
She died at her Staffordshire home from a laceration to her heart after what could have been a 'forceful' foot stamp to her chest triggered a cardiac arrest, a post-mortem found.
Today, Birmingham Crown Court heard how Smith told police her daughter had eaten only a packet of crisps, a chocolate biscuit and a yoghurt by the afternoon of her death on May 1, 2014.
She had consumed her last meal the night before at Rigby's grandparents' home, jurors were told.
They both deny all of the charges.
During today's hearing, an officer with Staffordshire Police told jurors how Smith had informed him Ayeeshia had 'snacked on a yoghurt, a chocolate biscuit and Quavers' on the day she died.
Detective Sergeant James Brady, who spoke to the mother at hospital just hours after Ayeeshia's alleged murder, added: "I was told she had her last meal the night before at Matthew's grandparents' house in Nottingham."
Recalling a conversation at Burton-upon-Trent's Queen's Hospital, Mr Brady said Smith told him the toddler had suffered three 'over-heating fits' since the start of 2014.
On two of those occasions, an ambulance had been called to the home in Britannia Drive, jurors heard.
Smith also told him her daughter suffered from alopecia, he said.
Det Sgt Brady described the couple as being 'extremely emotional' at the time.
He said Smith then told him of an incident three weeks before when the little girl had to be taken to hospital.
Mr Brady told the court: "Mum had told me that the child had bitten her lip in bath approximately three weeks prior (to the death).
"She had slipped in the bath and consequently she was taken to Queen's Hospital and then sent home."
On the day of the child's death, the officer said Smith told him she had left Ayeeshia on the potty and gone into the kitchen, while Rigby was outside in the garden.
He was asked by Christopher Hotten QC, prosecuting, if Smith had presented the fits as being similar to those the child had suffered previously.
The detective replied: "Yes, it was described as the same as before, implying it was the same as the previous fits."
Earlier, the jury heard how Ayeeshia was measured and found to be in the second percentile of weight category for a child of her age, with a medical expert describing her as 'thin'.
Dr Tamas Marton, a consultant paediatric pathologist, said: "Ayeeshia was a thin child."
He added: "Out of 100 children, 98 would be heavier for children of the same age and build."
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