Eli Cox death: Mum shouted 'what have you done?' to boyfriend, court told

Katherine Cox and Danny Shepherd deny causing or allowing the death of a child

The mother of a five-month-old boy shaken to death shouted "what have you done?" to her boyfriend as he tried to resuscitate her baby, a court heard.

Mother-of-nine Katherine Cox, 33, and boyfriend Danny Shepherd, 25, deny causing or allowing Eli Cox's death.

Their neighbour Bonnie Boulton told Maidstone Crown Court Ms Cox was "frantic" as her partner performed chest compressions.

Ms Boulton said she heard him say he would "get the blame for this".

Eli died in hospital on 27 April 2016, two weeks after the incident in Kent.

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Mrs Boulton told jurors that on 13 April she saw "Pickle [Mr Shepherd] leaning over the baby on the bed... doing compressions."

'Frantic'

When asked by prosecutor Jennifer Knight how Eli looked, she said he was "grey, lifeless".

"I can remember the legs of the baby raising up. [Mr Shepherd] was pushing down on the baby," she said.

At the same time Ms Cox was said to have been "proper shouting", saying, "Pickle what have you done?"

Ms Boulton added: "That was the main thing she was repeating, she was frantic."

'He's blue'

She told the court she had made sure nothing was blocking Eli's airways and had heard Mr Shepherd say "he was going to get the blame for this".

When an ambulance arrived Miss Boulton said Ms Cox said she "wasn't leaving without Pickle", and went back into the house to get him.

The jury was also played the 999 call Ms Cox had made that day, in which she could be heard screaming and shouting "he's not breathing, he's blue".

As the recording was played, Ms Cox started to cry in the dock. Some of the jury members were also moved to tears.

The judge halted proceedings temporarily.

'Brain injury'

Two others neighbours, Amie Davies and Linda Hopkins, told the court they also heard Mr Shepherd say: "I'm going to get the blame for this."

Post-mortem examinations showed Eli's death was caused by a head injury of a "shaking or shaking impact type".

He also had oxygen deprivation to his brain, a brain injury, bruises at the back of his head and fractures dating back weeks before his death.

A hair sample showed he had been "regularly exposed to amphetamine and occasionally exposed to cocaine".

The trial continues.