A 22-year-old Bradford man denied deliberately fracturing a baby's skull and claimed the child fell off a bed, a jury was told.

Aaron Giles denies inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent on Ben Denton, aged three months.

On the opening day of a trial at Leeds Crown Court yesterday, prosecutor Jeremy Richardson QC told the jury that Ben died a month later but his death was medically unrelated to the skull fracture.

Mr Richardson said that Ben's mother was living with Giles in Dalcross Street, West Bowling, in November 2002.

On November 12, she left Giles in sole charge of Ben while she went out.

The baby was fine when she left him and plainly injured when she returned to the house, he said.

After Ben's death, a pathologist discovered the severe skull fracture.

Mr Richardson said that Giles claimed that Ben fell off the bed but medical opinion was that such an accident could not account for that serious head injury.

The court heard that Giles was arrested on December 16, 2002, and interviewed at Bradford Police Station.

The jury was told that he was previously in a car crash and had below the knee amputations.

Mr Richardson said that Giles told the police that Ben had fallen off the bed the previous month, and after the accident he could not see anything wrong with him.

Giles said he was running a bath and it had almost overflowed.

He levered himself off the bed to turn the water off and then heard Ben crying. The baby was on the floor.

Giles told officers that he believed Ben was accidentally propelled off the bed and suffered a fractured skull in the fall.

Mr Richardson told the jury that the prosecution case was that Richardson was lying to cover up the fact that he had carried out a serious assault on the baby.

The trial continues.