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| Roxie Jo-Anne Archer: Boyfriend 'beat toddler to death' | Roxie Jo-Anne Archer: Boyfriend 'beat toddler to death' |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| A 23-month-old girl was beaten to death by the boyfriend of her mother who had flown to New York to celebrate her 21st birthday, a jury has heard. | A 23-month-old girl was beaten to death by the boyfriend of her mother who had flown to New York to celebrate her 21st birthday, a jury has heard. |
| Ben Raftery, 21, "forcibly and repeatedly punched" Roxie Jo-Anne Archer in March 2012, Manchester Crown Court was told. He denies murder. | Ben Raftery, 21, "forcibly and repeatedly punched" Roxie Jo-Anne Archer in March 2012, Manchester Crown Court was told. He denies murder. |
| Roxie's mother Sophie was informed of the toddler's death as she arrived in the US. | Roxie's mother Sophie was informed of the toddler's death as she arrived in the US. |
| Mr Raftery was looking after Roxie at her home in Ashton-Under-Lyne. | Mr Raftery was looking after Roxie at her home in Ashton-Under-Lyne. |
| The court was told Roxie's mother was taken to New York by her father on 9 March as a surprise with Mr Raftery, her boyfriend of 16 months, due to look after the toddler overnight before being passed to the child's grandmother. | |
| Mr Raftery dialled 999 at 00:30 GMT on 10 March to say he had left a stair gate open and Roxie had fallen down the stairs at the terraced house in Elizabeth Street. | |
| She died the next day in Tameside Hospital, having suffered extensive bruising and retinal haemorrhaging. | |
| 'Strange behaviour' | |
| Kate Blackwell QC, prosecuting, said paramedics found the child lying on a bed in an upstairs bedroom. | |
| She told the court: "One of the paramedics thought it strange that she had been carried back up the stairs. | |
| "Her breathing rate was slowing, she was very pale and had a blue tinge to her skin. She was in a very sick and critical condition." | |
| Mr Raftery's behaviour at the hospital, "seemed somewhat strange," the prosecutor said. | |
| She added: "He seemed only to be concerned about his own welfare. | |
| "He was heard to say, 'I'm scared, they are going to do me for this'. He failed to apologise for what had apparently happened to Roxie in his care." | |
| The trial is scheduled to last up to two weeks. |