A BABY suffered multiple skull fractures consistent being swung against a wall, stamped on or hit with a blunt object by her mother's boyfriend, a court has heard.

The injuries to 12 month-old Orianna Crilly-Cifrova were so severe that Peter Wright QC, prosecuting, told a jury at Manchester Crown Court that they were akin to being in a road traffic accident.

And a post mortem revealed the baby had also suffered other injuries, including fractured ribs and spine, at least two days earlier.

The court heard that Orianna's mother Chelsea Crilly, had repeatedly been warned about the risk posed by Jamie Chadwick, who was under investigation after another woman's baby was injured in July 2018.

Mr Wright said Crilly began a relationship with Chadwick in early 2019 and was aware of the inquiries, but repeatedly lied to social workers and police, claiming he had no contact with her child.

Chadwick even hid under a bed when social workers visited the flat in Cross Lane, Radcliffe, which they shared with his sister, Aysha Muhammed.

"It was symptomatic of a young and impressionable woman who was prepared to risk the well being of her child in favour of a continuing relationship with the man Jamie Chadwick," said Mr Wright.

On October 15 last year Crilly went shopping, leaving Orianna in Chadwick's care and when she returned the baby was crying and Chadwick was angry and aggressive

The court heard that that evening the couple drank vodka and took cocaine and cannabis while Aysha sat on the sofa looking after the baby.

"The conduct, we say, of Chelsea and Jamie was symptomatic of a calculated disregard for Orianna's well-being in preference to their own enjoyment," said Mr Wright.

The next day Crilly accompanied Aysha to the heath centre, leaving her with Chadwick again because she was sleeping and when she returned he told her that he had been sitting on the toilet when Orianna crawled towards him and fell down three steps.

He insisted she was "fine" but when Aysha checked on her she found the child floppy and white. When paramedics arrived Chadwick again hid in the bedroom.

The baby died at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital the following day with Crilly continuing to lie about Chadwick's involvement with her daughter.

Mr Wright told the jury that Crilly had "demonstrated a casual indifference" to any risk posed by Chadwick to her child.

"The warnings were there for to see. It didn't require a crystal ball to be aware of the risk he posed.

"She simply chose not to see it or did see it but decided, for her own selfish reasons, to take the risk with her daughter's life - a risk that led all too quickly to Orianna suffering catastrophic and ultimately fatal injuries at the hands of Jamie."

Chadwick, aged 22, denies murder and Crilly, aged 20, of Warwick Road, Atherton, has pleaded not guilty to causing or allowing the death of a child.

The trial continues.