Ayeeshia Jane Smith: Toddler 'stamped on so hard she bit through her own tongue', court hears

The girl died aged 21 months in May 2014 after social services allegedly failed to spot injuries

Matthew Rigby, 22, outside Birmingham Crown Court where he is charged with murder, causing or allowing the death of a child and cruelty to a child

A toddler allegedly stamped to death by her mother and stepfather may have been hit so hard by the fatal blow that she bit through her own tongue, a court has heard.

Pathologists previously told Birmingham Crown Court that Ayeeshia Jane Smith’s injuries, which eventually caused a fatal laceration to her heart, were usually seen in car crash victims.

Her mother Kathryn Smith, 23, and her partner Matthew Rigby, 22, deny murdering the “bright, happy little girl” at their flat in Burton-upon-Trent.

Ayeeshia died aged 21 months in May 2014, while her care was being supervised by social services who failed to notice a “concerning” pattern of historic injuries, the jury was told on Tuesday.

Ayeesha's mother Kathryn Smith and Smith's partner Matthew Rigby are standing trial at Birmingham Crown Court (pictured) (Google Maps)

On March 29 that year, Ayeeshia was treated in Burton hospital with a cut to the inside of her lower lip that was so severe doctors discussed transferring her for specialist treatment in Birmingham.

Dr Kathryn Ward told the court: “An injury to the lip can occur as a result of an accidental fall, such that the child actually bites their own lip with their teeth, but that would have to be a very significant and forceful fall.

"Alternatively, it can be caused by an inflicted blow to the lip - it's not possible to be absolutely clear which is the cause."

There was also evidence of bruising to her neck which the consultant paediatrician said was of a type classically associated ”with a gripping or grasping“ of the child's throat.

A post mortem examination revealed an old bleed on the brain and damage to the spine among other injuries, which Dr Ward said could have been caused ”if a child is grasped and shaken“.

Ayeeshia Jane Smith was admitted several times to Queen's Hospital in Burton-upon-Trent with her injuries, the court heard (Google Streetview)

Ayeeshia, who had been known to social services since her birth June 2012, was underweight and only managed to put on a health spurt after being taken into foster care around the time of her first birthday, the jury was told.

She was returned to her mother’s full-time care in October 2013, despite the foster family recording ”concerns the (feeding) routines were not being kept“ by the 23-year-old mother during contact visits.

She then lost almost a kilo in weight between a hospital admission in February 2014, after she suffered what was described as a ”fit“, and April when she was seen by a health visitor but health workers did not raise the issue.

Dr Ward told the jury that there was no evidence to have supported doctors’ diagnosis of a “febrile fit” at Queen's Hospital on 3 February and that the seizure was probably caused by a deliberate head injury.

She added: "This was clearly a significant event in the child's life and given the timing of the (subsequent) post-mortem and the intracranial findings, I think it's possible and indeed probable that the event on 3rd February was associated with a non-accidental head injury."

Of the fatal injuries sustained at the family home in Britannia Drive, Burton, on 1 May, the consultant said: ”There was no history of this child suffering the sort of trauma; like a severe road traffic accident; or the child falling several storeys from a building.

"In order to sustain accidental trauma causing this type of injury, it has to be extreme trauma.

"This is not the sort of injury that occurs in a household on a day to day basis."

Smith and Rigby claimed a large patch of bruising on the child’s back was suffered when she fell off the potty, but Dr Ward said she would only expect a ”small“ bruise from such an incident.

When asked about the number of injuries found on the child, she told the court: ”While one can't be clear as to whether these were definitely inflicted injuries or not, there was certainly a concerning pattern of a child presenting with significant injury.“

Smith, of Sandfield Road, Nottingham and Rigby, of Sloan Drive, Nottingham, also deny causing or allowing the death of a child and cruelty to a child. The trial continues.

Additional reporting by AP