Yahoo News Man guilty of murdering girlfriend's toddler by poisoning her to cover up beatings
A man has been found guilty of murdering his girlfriend’s baby after poisoning her to cover up beatings.
Thomas Curd, 31, beat 22-month-old Eve Leatherland on several occasions then poisoned her with a fatal dose of codeine Truro Crown Court heard.
He then browsed Facebook and played video games while the youngster lay dying.
The jury was told how Eve suffered a fractured skull, broken ribs and a lacerated liver in the days leading up to her death.
Curd shared a house in Liskeard, Cornwall, with Eve’s mother, Abigail Leatherland, 26.
He was found guilty of murder while the jury found Leatherland guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child.
The mother was cleared of manslaughter by gross negligence.
Both will be sentenced on Friday.
A jury was told the pair were ‘wrapped up in their own superficial world of video games, TV, texts, selfies and Facebook’ as she lay dying a few feet away.
A nurse at Derriford Hospital Sophie Brock gave evidence as she was on duty the night Eve was admitted to the Plymouth hospital on October 5, 2017.
When asked how Eve appeared when she arrived, Ms Brock said ‘she looked dead’.
She added: ‘She was very pale and I noticed bruising around the nappy line.
Ms Brock then moved onto her interactions with Leatherland and Curd.
She said that when they were brought to Eve’s bedside after being told that the outlook wasn’t good, Leatherland initially seemed physically distressed, whereas Curd declined to sit on a chair and propped him up on the edge of the trolley.
Leatherland and Curd were then taken to the relatives’ room where they were explained the process before they are said to have asked to go for a cigarette.
Ms Brock said: ‘The doctor asked for their history and Leatherland said that the children didn’t see their biological father.’
She told the court that family friend came to the hospital and they asked if they could go for a cigarette.
‘They came back smiling and laughing away to themselves and that frustrated me slightly,’ said the nurse.
‘They asked for a cigarette again and I was quite firm and abrupt with them and said no. It was seconds between cigarettes.’
