A CHILD expert said that a two-month-old baby had the most severe injuries he had ever seen on a youngster, a court was told yesterday.

Two-month-old Kane Simpson, from Billingham, Teesside, was taken to a medical centre with brain injuries, two skull fractures, six fractured ribs, a broken arm, a broken left thumb, a broken left shin bone, two fractures of the left thigh, and a broken left ankle bone.

A consultant paediatrician at the University Hospital of Hartlepool said they would have required a very substantial force of severity seen in a road traffic accident, and that they were the most severe injuries he had seen on a baby.

Some of the fractures were weeks old and some were only days old.

The baby is now recovering in foster care.

Teesside Crown Court heard how police interviewed the mother, 19-year-old Rachel Simpson, and her live-in boyfriend Andrew Spence, 24, whom she met on the Internet.

The couple, from Redworth Road, both deny two charges of child cruelty alleging willful assault and neglect between September and December 2001.

Shaun Dodds, prosecuting, said the couple took Kane on December 7 to the medical centre in Billingham where he was examined by a GP.

He told the court: "The doctor formed the opinion that he was very ill and he was transferred to Hartlepool General Hospital and seen by paediatricians."

Ms Simpson told a doctor that she had lifted Kane and she heard a crack, telling her sister that perhaps it had been caused by her closing press-studs on a babygrow - bruising that had been noticed by the sister.

Mr Spence was questioned about a series of alleged accidents, including falling downstairs with the baby when he lost his grip on the child; sitting at his computer when the child fell forward banging his head; and throwing the baby into the air and catching him.

Mr Dodds said: "A consultant paediatrician said that the injuries require a very substantial force and they were non-accidental."

The case continues.