A COURT heard today that doctors examining a baby with a broken leg discovered bruises on his forehead.

Twenty days later he was dead, with a string of injuries, the Old Bailey was told.

Collette Harris, aged 30, and her then boyfriend James Phillips, aged 25, both of Halcot Avenue, Bexleyheath, deny murdering her son Bobby.

The 21-month-old child died on December 29, 2008 after suffering around 40 injuries, some of which were possibly caused by punches or kicks to the head and abdomen.

Three weeks earlier, the child was taken to Darent Valley Hospital, Dartford, with a broken leg.

On examining the child, four bruises were discovered on his head.

Dr Carmen Baden said: “I remember the child's mother was rather uneasy when I asked about the bruises.”

The doctor said: “She wasn't actually saying much but she got rather emotional and tearful at one point.”

Harris told the hospital that she was in the kitchen when she heard screaming from the living room. Afterwards she noticed the child could not put pressure on his right leg.

She claimed that the bruises were from the child banging his head on the bars of his cot, the court heard.

Doctor Mariano D-Costa told the court that, despite happening in a period of added concerns during the Baby P scandal, the injuries had been deemed to be probably accidental.

Medical staff said there were no concerns over the mother and child's interaction but an independent check had been made with Bexley social services.

Earlier today, it was revealed Phillips told police that Harris had said she “regretted Bobby” and that “he was just driving her mad and doing her head in.”

Harris and Phillips also deny an alternative charge of causing or allowing the death of a child.

The trial continues.