A Nigerian living in London, Marvyn Iheanacho, has been accused of “savagely battering his girlfriend’s five-year-old son to death.”
Daily Mail reports that the 39-year-old Iheanacho had allegedly flew into a rage after the boy lost one of his trainers in a park in South London.
The report said that the boy quietly said “sorry” for losing his trainer which fell on deaf ears, the police prosecutor, Eleanor Laws QC, said.
The Nigerian, who lives in Hounslow, west London, is standing trial at Woolwich Crown Court.
He pleaded not guilty to the charge.
According to the prosecution, the 5-year-old boy “died at the hands of this defendant, a man who was looking after him, acting as his stepfather… violently assaulted him, causing him fatal head and stomach injures.
“The defendant is a man who has ever since, we say, done his best to avoid being held accountable for those injuries.”
Ms Laws further told the court that Iheanacho was in a relationship with Alex’s mother, Liliya Breha, and would often stay at her flat in Catford.
CCTV captured Iheanacho taking Alex from his home, on three separate buses, to the park, where they arrived at around 5.12pm, when it was already dark.
Alex was wearing black trainers, a red jacket, a woolly hat and gloves.
Ms Laws told jurors there are no witnesses or CCTV footage of “the defendant landing blows on Alex,” but added that “There is, however, clear evidence as to the fact the defendant lost his temper with Alex before he sustained injuries.
“The defendant was heard shouting loudly at Alex after finding out that Alex had lost his shoes.”
Ms Laws said Iheanacho then attacked a screaming Alex’s mum, Ms Breha, after she called him a “danger to her family” and stopped her from calling an ambulance.
But she grabbed the phone after noticing her son was getting cold, his face had turned blue and he had stopped breathing.
The Prosecutor also told the court that Iheanacho told one paramedic the boy had fallen onto his knees and hit his head on the floor, but told others he had fallen from a climbing frame.
Doctors at Lewisham Hospital tried to resuscitate Alex, but a CT scan revealed he was suffering from severe brain swelling, and he was transferred to King’s College Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A post-mortem revealed bruises on the youngster’s head, neck, and body, while a pathologist concluded the combination of impact type head injury and blunt trauma to the abdomen was “consistent with inflicted injury.”
The prosecutor said Iheanacho denied causing any of the injuries to Alex, describing what happened as ‘an accident.’
Ms Law insisted that Iheanacho delivered a “forceful blow”, such as “a kick, a stamp, or a punch,” on the boy.
The Jury ordered that the suspect be kept under police custody until further hearing.
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