A FATHER told a court yesteday he did not mean to hurt his two-week-old baby daughter after he broke her leg while changing her nappy.

The 30-year-old man took his baby to hospital in the early hours after he heard a snap during the nappy change at the family home in Hartlepool.

The town's magistrates were told he was arrested by police and charged with assault after medical experts agreed the injury could only have been sustained through excessive force.

The man, who has another young daughter, pleaded guilty to assault, though prosecutors and child protection agencies accepted the incident was unintentional.

He was given a six-month community rehabilitation order after magistrates said they accepted the father-of-two was remorseful.

In a statement read by family solicitor Alan Townsend, the father said he was relieved the ordeal was over.

Mr Townsend said: "It has been extremely sad for the whole family, and my client is very content that the court and other professionals appear to have recognised that there was never any intention of harming his daughter."

Mr Townsend said his client had woken in the early hours of the morning in April last year to find his wife downstairs with their baby daughter.

As he pulled down his daughter's leg to change her nappy, he heard a crack. Examinations at the University Hospital in Hartlepool revealed an oblique fracture to the left femur.

The father, who had no previous convictions, was ordered to pay costs of £36.

* In order to protect the identity of the children, The Northern Echo has not named the defendant, even though there was no court order to that effect.