A mother and her new boyfriend may have poisoned a one-year-old toddler in an attempt to cover up a series of beatings, a jury has heard.
Eve Leatherland, who was just 22 months old when she died in October 2017, had suffered a fractured skull, broken ribs and a split liver, prosecutors claim.
Eve died at her home in Liskeard, Cornwall, where she lived with her mother Abigail Leatherland and her mum’s partner, Tom Curd.
A large amount of the strong adult painkiller codeine – which should not be given to children – was found in Eve’s system, Cornwall Live reports.
Leatherland, 24, and Curd, 31, from Watford, are charged with murder, manslaughter by gross negligence, and causing or allowing the death of a child.
They both deny the charges and say they were not responsible for the injuries Eve sustained in the build-up to her death or the administration of the codeine.
In the few days leading up to her death she was assaulted on at least two occasions, possibly several more, and in the course of those assaults she suffered a fractured skull, several fractured ribs, a split liver and numerous other injuries of varying severity.
“Not only did she suffer a fractured skull and ribs on one occasion but it seems that when she was assaulted again the second assault was sufficiently similar to the first that it re-fractured her skull and re-fractured some of her ribs, tearing apart the young bones as they started to knit back together.
“But, ghastly as all that may sound this was not quite the end of it. Because despite these assaults on this young child, or perhaps because of them, more was to befall young Eve.
“After these attacks she was then given medication. Not medication kindly given to alleviate her suffering. Not a tea spoon full of Calpol to take the edge off a nasty cold or a banged knee. But rather, she was given so much medication that she was killed by it.
“Whether she was given the medication over a few days to try to mask the effects of these various assaults and these terrible injuries upon her, or whether she was given one massive dose in the hours shortly before she died, we cannot precisely say.
Queen’s Council Sean Brunton said that it is not possible for the prosecution to say who did what, but at least one of the two defendants, in their view, must have beaten Eve with such force that her liver ruptured.
He said: “And then at least one of them decided to administer adult medication to her to cover up when they had done and did so in such large quantities that it killer her.
The Crown Prosecution Service says it’s “inconceivable” in such a small house that they failed to become aware of Eve’s deteriorating condition and that it was their choice to turn a blind eye.
By the time Abigail Leatherland called 999 on October 5 2017, experts say that Eve had “almost certainly” been dead for many hours, and that when she arrived at hospital after being airlifted to Derriford Hospital rigor mortis had already set in, a process which usually takes several hours.
Both Curd and Leatherland deny the charges against them.The trial continues.