A man accused of killing a toddler is alleged to have told her mother: "I'm going down for this".

Paul Marsh, 27, failed to to ask little Jessica Dalgleish's mum how she was as she fought for her life in hospital, instead bragging that his parents had got him the "Duke of Sussex's lawyer", she claimed.

The former residential home worker has denied manslaughter and cruelty to a child in December 2019.

The court previously heard that Marsh is alleged to have attacked Jessica after she refused to eat lunch.

Now a jury at Maidstone Crown Court has heard from the child's mother who was alerted by Marsh in a text message that three-year-old Jessica had fallen down stairs and her arm was "at a funny angle".

The 26-year-old mum said when Marsh broke the news that Jessica had been found injured "it was like he was talking about afternoon tea".

The mother asked if he had alerted paramedics and called him again minutes later but he didn't answer.

She then left work and headed home and travelled to nearby Radnor Park, Folkestone, where an air ambulance would later take Jessica to a London Hospital.

She claimed: "There was no real urgency (from Marsh). Paul Marsh's father then drove us to London.

"Paul Marsh said he had to pick something up quickly and we ended up going back to his mum and dad's house.

"It was quiet on the journey to London. Paul Marsh then said: 'I'm going to go down for this'.

"I didn't know what he was talking about and I just gave him a funny look. I didn't say anything because I was just concentrating on getting to the hospital.

"We stopped at a garage for petrol and Paul Marsh wanted to get himself some snacks, crisps and some drinks. I said we really need to go."

She said she asked to borrow Marsh's mobile so she could phone the hospital.

"He was mardy and short with me about me using his phone and when we got to the hospital, I went ahead and Marsh followed at a leisurely pace," she claimed.

'He told me that his mother and father had got him a top lawyer... the Duke of Sussex's lawyer or something. I then commented that he hadn't asked about Jess. He then asked me...'

Marsh, at the time living in Wilberforce Gardens, Sandgate, but now of Hythe, was later arrested at the hospital and after his release telephoned Jessica's mother telling her the police had "nothing on me".

She alleged: "He told me that his mother and father had got him a top lawyer... the Duke of Sussex's lawyer or something. I then commented that he hadn't asked about Jess. He then asked me."

On December 24, Jessica's life support machine was turned off, the jury heard.

She revealed how she noticed how in the weeks before her death she had noticed how Jessica "had been covered in bruises".

"I didn't understand where they had come from and Paul Marsh told me she had been headbutting (another child)... but I didn't see that."

The mother said she was working and had left Jessica in Marsh's care.

Marsh alerted her that he had found Jessica at the bottom of stairs - but she said: "She was a good girl she would not have climbed.

"If she went upstairs she would hold the banister. She was very very careful on the stairs. She never fell down the stairs or tumbled down. I have never had an issue with her climbing."

The trial continues.

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