Telford baby murder trial: Injuries consistent with 40mph crash, court told

He was recovering from a recent bout of vomiting and diarrhoea when his father put him to bed on the evening of July 27, 2012.

Hours later he was rushed to the Princess Royal Hospital having suffered severe trauma – described by a prosecutor as the equivalent of being involved in a 40mph car accident – and died four days later from his injuries.

His parents Ashlea and Paul Thomas, of Dalford Court, Hollinswood, Telford, both deny charges that they murdered their 11-month-old son.

Yesterday at the opening of the defence case at the trial at Birmingham Crown Court, Ashlea Thomas repeatedly denied prosecution claims that she and her husband were behind the severe injuries suffered by baby Oliver.

The jury heard that Ashlea Thomas, 20, had cared for several babies in her work as an assistant at the Trench Tots nursery in Gibbons Road, Trench, without any complaints from parents or staff.

She admitted that she and her husband had been suffering financial problems in the months leading up to her son's death and that they had been arguing about "anything and everything".

She told the court that Paul Thomas, a builder, had ended their relationship when he first found out she was pregnant as he wanted her to have a termination.

However, following Oliver's birth the 29-year-old began to visit her again and the couple married and moved in together at an address in Priory Road, St Georges, Telford.

Oliver suffered health problems including a bout of gastroenteritis and had several visits to the hospital and to the doctors in the months before his death, the court heard.

Ashlea Thomas said during these visits medical staff had asked about bruises on the boy but she had explained they were caused by their dog's tail or Oliver rolling onto his toys or trapping his legs in his cot.

She admitted she had been aware her husband had banged Oliver's head against a door frame on March 12, while taking him to bed on a night that she was out with friends, but said she did not know why she had not mentioned it to medical staff when he was examined the following day. Mr Andrew Smith, prosecuting, said her use of the term "lol" – laugh out loud – when texting about Oliver's injuries was "uncaring".

Ashlea Thomas had used the phrase when replying to her husband when he asked about their son's eye the morning after he had banged his head on the door frame and she had responded "bruised, lol".

The court was told that she had used the term again a month later when she answered him to say she was "listening to Oliver scream lol".

Ashlea Thomas said that she used the term out of habit and did not mean it to sound callous. She told the court she did not remember seeing her husband flip Oliver over by gripping his arm and leg during a visit to the hospital, but accepted evidence from medical staff who had heard her tell him not to do that. Under a cross-examination lasting more than two hours, Ashlea Thomas said she had no idea how Oliver came to receive the injuries that led to his death.

Mr Smith, prosecuting, said that Ashlea Thomas had made a choice to put her husband ahead of Oliver and that she had "surrendered the protection and care" of her son at a time when he was receiving "repeated non-accidental injuries" – charges she denied from the witness stand.

The court was told undisputed medical evidence revealed that Oliver had also received severe trauma three to five days before the injuries that led to his final emergency trip to hospital.

Mr Smith said that the injuries suffered by Oliver, which included broken ribs, a large head fracture, bleeding on the brain, bruising and a fractured tibia, were the equivalent of him being involved in a 40mph car accident.

Ashlea Thomas agreed that Oliver's injuries must have taken place at their home in Priory Way. However she denied that she or her husband had caused the injuries.

She was questioned why she had asked police officers how long the sentence was for such an offence.

"I was being asked about hurting Oliver and I wanted to know," she said.

The couple also deny an alternative charge to murder of causing a child's death by not recognising there was a significant harm by a member of the household between July 27 and July 31, 2012.

They also face charges of abusing, ill-treating, abandoning or neglecting Oliver in a manner likely to cause harm between March 12 and July 26, 2012.

The trial continues.