A BABYSITTER murdered an 11-month-old by either striking the child with a blunt object or flinging her against a wall, a court heard today.
Lynn Jeffrey, 38, of Bird Street, Brierfield, went on trial at Preston Crown Court for the murder of Courtney-Ann Shailes.
The jury was told that Jeffrey had agreed to look after Courtney after meeting her mother Samantha, 26, of Railway Street, Nelson, at a pub in town on August 23 last year.
The pair did not know one another well and had been acquaintances for around three months, Mr O'Byrne said.
Andrew O'Byrne, prosecuting, told the court that baby Courtney-Ann had multiple fractures at the back of her skull.
Mr O'Byrne said pathologists had described her injuries as consistent with being flung against a wall by her legs or hit with a blunt object.
An ambulance was called to the house in Railway Street just before 11pm.
Jeffrey denies the murder and, the court was told, claims her boyfriend at the time, Andrew Elliott, was responsible.
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