Baby ‘looked grey and was grunting’

From front But when he was taken to the surgery four days later he was gravely ill.

Experts expressed surprise the mother had not called for an ambulance, Miss Stangoe told a jury. Miss Stangoe said the baby looked grey, had froth at the side of his mouth, and was grunting His eyes were closed and his legs were hard and swollen. The doctor suspected septicaemia. The child was taken to Pembury Hospital and transferred to a specialist unit in London. X-rays revealed fractures to both thighbones and lower legs, the right lower leg and ankle, and fractures to the base of the left thumb and two bones in the big toe.

Miss Stangoe said: “A paediatrician and another doctor concluded his injuries were not accidental.”

The doctor’s view was the fractures led to the onset of septicaemia. The prognosis was poor. The child needed a prolonged course of treatment and experts said the most serious injury was a dislocated right lower leg and ankle.

The prosecution case is one of the defendants must have been responsible for the harm.

Simpson and Smith, now both of Sydney Road, Whitstable, deny causing or allowing serious physical harm to a child and cruelty to a person under 16.

The trial continues.