‘Dad’ held dead baby in his arms

THE man who thought he was the father of tragic tot Violet Mullen told a jury of the moment he learned of her death.

The 15-month-old toddler died from internal injuries on January 12 after being struck with a ‘severe blow’, it is alleged.

Her body showed bruising and injuries which suggested to doctors she had been assaulted at least three times before her death and possibly shaken.

Violet’s mum Claire Flanagan (22) and her partner Gary Alcock (28) are on trial at Manchester Crown Court for her murder.

Christopher Mullen (24) thought he was Violet’s father until a DNA test after her death revealed that a man called Paul Taylor was her dad.

Up until five months before Violet’s death, Mr Mullen lived with her and Flanagan (22) in Huddersfield Road, Waterhead.

Mr Mullen told the jury that on the day the tot died, he received a phone call from his mother telling him to go to Royal Oldham Hospital as Violet had stopped breathing.

He said that he rushed to hospital where Flanagan told him Violet “might be dead”.

Neil Flewitt QC, prosecuting, described how Mr Mullen and Flanagan were taken into a room and Violet’s body was brought to them, wrapped in a blanket.

Mr Mullen held her for a couple of minutes before leaving because he found it “too distressing”.

The court heard that Mr Mullen had a five-year, on-off relationship with Flanagan.

Questioned by David Fish QC, defending Alcock, Mr Mullen claimed that Flanagan had been violent towards him during that time.

Mr Mullen said that while he had been living with Violet and Flanagan the baby would be put on the settee if she misbehaved and would often jump off, suffer bruises and bump her head.

John Greenwood, a friend of Alcock’s, stayed at the Huddersfield Road house the night before Violet’s death.

He said Alcock had gone up to Violet’s room after she cried in the night and that when he returned he told him she had banged her head in her cot.

The next morning, Mr Greenwood said the child seemed unwell. Other than this he said she seemed ‘well cared for’.

Flanagan and Alcock both deny murder and causing or allowing the death of a child. The trial is expected to last four weeks.