Stepfather Broke Toddler's Arm, Spine Weeks Before Killing Her

A 20-year-old man accused of murdering his step daughter, also broke her spine and arm, weeks before he allegedly killed her, prosecutors told a court in the United Kingdom Monday. The accused was identified as Martin Johnson, a chef by profession.

Court heard Johnson killed his step daughter, 23-month-old Erin Tomkins, weeks prior to her second birthday.

He had told police she collapsed while the two were playing "high fives" at their Sheffield home. However, rejecting his claim, prosecutor David Brooke told the jury the toddler was admitted in the hospital with a number of body wounds.

Tomkins died on May 22, 2018, a day after she was taken to hospital. An autopsy found the girl suffered a fractured spine along with a broken upper limb, a few weeks before her death.

Brooke told the Sheffield Crown Court this wasn’t the first instance of Johnson hitting the toddler. "The prosecution suggests that this was not a one-off fit of pique or temper but someone who had struck at a very young child more than once, and if you accept it, had broken her bones," he said.

He said the accused stayed with 18-year-old Kira Tomkins, his partner and the deceased’s mother, during the time of the incident. The couple also have a younger daughter.

Kira Tomkins told law enforcement officers that her partner would get angry with her now-deceased daughter every time she cried while he tried to put a diaper on her.

"Martin would get angry with Kira if Erin cried and said that she needed to stop being 'clingy'," she told the police.

The prosecutor further stated, “In the opinion of experts, the findings are simply not reconcilable with the description, the defendant gave to doctors - of Erin watching television and playing 'high fives' just before her collapse.”

“In other words, given he admits being the only person with her at the time all the medical evidence points to the defendant being the only person who could have been responsible,” he added.

Johnson has denied the murder and assault charges. The trial is expected to last three weeks.