INJURIES to a 21-month-old baby's head could have been caused up to two days before his death, the Old Bailey heard today (April 22).

Dr Richard Edwards, a consultant paediatric neurosurgeon, said the bleeding to Bobby Louch's brain was more usually seen in infants involved in high-speed car accidents or falls from first and second-storey windows.

Bobby died on December 29, 2008, having been taken to Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup, with more than 40 injuries including brain damage and injuries to his abdomen.

Dr Edwards claimed the baby's head injuries had to come from “a heavy blow”.

He said the blow could have come from “a heavy kick or a heavy punch to the head - or being struck with an object”.

Dr Edwards concluded the brain injuries would have come from “multiple punches or kicks”, pointing out the child had around 15 bruises to his head.

And he told the jury: “In my view it's very important to consider the strong possibility that injuries occurred at different times within a very short period of 48 hours or so.”

The consultant said some of the injuries might have caused the child to vomit, something he is alleged to have been doing the day before his death.

Bobby's mother Collette Harris, aged 30, of Chapel Close, Crayford, and her then boyfriend James Phillips, aged 25, of Dale View, Erith, deny murdering the child.

They also deny an alternative charge of causing or allowing the death of a child.

The trial continues.