Man 'heard baby screaming' before she collapsed

Jack Wheeler and his ex-partner Melissa Wilband are on trial for manslaughter

A man accused of a baby's manslaughter has told a court he had no idea why she collapsed in his arms.

Jack Wheeler, 31, of Ledbury in Herefordshire, is on trial at Bristol Crown Court following the death of four-month-old Lexi Wilband in hospital in April 2020.

The child's mother, 28-year-old Melissa Wilband, of Newent in Gloucestershire, is also facing a manslaughter charge.

Tests showed Lexi had suffered bleeding on her brain, likely caused by being violently shaken, shortly before her death and on at least one earlier occasion, prosecutors say. Mr Wheeler and Ms Wilband deny the charges.

Mr Wheeler told jurors he had gone to the kitchen to make up some night-time feeds for Lexi, who was in the front room, shortly before she collapsed on 12 April 2020.

He said he heard "some screams" from the child and checked on her.

He did not recall where Ms Wilband was at the time.

"I have [Lexi], the bottle and dummy," he told the court.

"I picked her up because she was crying and screaming, and she went floppy in my arms."

Mr Wheeler added that he checked her airway, but had no idea what caused her to collapse.

The court previously heard that Mr Wheeler had been in a relationship with Ms Wilband for about three years.

Lexi had been conceived early in 2019 while the couple were on a break.

Ms Wilband faked a DNA test during the pregnancy to try to convince Mr Wheeler that he was the father.

However, when Lexi was born on 30 November 2019, a genuine DNA test revealed that Mr Wheeler was not biologically related to her.

Mr Wheeler described the result as "heartbreaking", as he wanted to be Lexi's biological father.

Bleeding to the brain

When asked about the events of 12 April 2020, Mr Wheeler denied Ms Wilband's claim that he had carried Lexi upstairs to her bath in a baby bouncer.

He told the court that Ms Wilband had taken Lexi upstairs.

Miranda Moore KC, representing Mr Wheeler, asked: "Melissa says you were holding the bouncer and Lexi threw herself backwards. Did any of that happen?"

Mr Wheeler replied: "No."

He told the court that Lexi was in the bath while he tidied up the bedroom, before going back downstairs.

He said Ms Wilband put the baby in the front room and the screaming he heard happened a short time later.

The court was told that Ms Wilband rang 111 before disconnecting the call and phoning her father, before calling 111 again at 23:24 BST.

Lexi was taken to hospital but died on 18 April 2020.

A post-mortem examination gave Lexi's cause of death as bleeding to the brain, caused by a non-accidental traumatic event.

Ms Wilband and Mr Wheeler, described in court as regular cocaine users, are also charged with causing or allowing Lexi's death, which they both deny.

The trial continues.