A man accused of murdering his girlfriend's 18-month-old son has told a jury he treated the boy "as one of my own".

Jack Benham, 35, and partner Sian Hedges, 27, are alleged to have subjected Alfie Phillips to a sustained and fatal assault in a caravan they shared in Hernhill in November 2020.

The former soldier took to the stand for the first time today during the fourth week of the trial at Maidstone Crown Court, where he described how his relationship with Hedges began, and called Alfie a “brilliant” and “lovely” boy.

Benham and Hedges deny murdering Alfie, who had 70 visible injuries and a number of broken bones at the time of his death.

Dressed in a white shirt and a striped tie, Benham of Uplands Cottages, Hernhill, told told how he separated from his wife in March 2020, after he started doing cocaine and she kicked him out.

In September that year he began a relationship with Hedges.

By November she was she was staying at Benham’s house a couple of nights a week, he said.

He went on: “As far as I was concerned she was my girlfriend. The first time I became aware that she was still in a relationship with Alfie's father was when the Old Bill told me when I was interviewed in November 2020.”

The dad-of-two described how Alfie loved playing with pet dogs and chickens which roamed around the caravan, which was parked in land owned by his parents’ home.

"Alfie was a child who was into everything. Alfie was brilliant. He was happy...never a dull moment. He was lovely.I always treated him as one of my own.

"I loved winding him up..he was a little mummy's boy.. When he had the hump he would only have his mother. I played with him but I didn't do a great deal other than that."

Alfie's body was discovered on November 20, 2020.

A pathologist later revealed Alfie had 31 injuries to his head and neck, 11 injuries to his arms, 17 injuries to his legs and 11 to his torso.

Earlier this week, the jury heard that Benham told police he bit the youngster after finding him lifeless in his caravan.

The couple had been drinking "three to four" glasses of Scotch and coke the night before and Benham admitted he smoked cannabis outside as Alfie was with his mother inside the caravan.

Benham claimed Alfie was still alive at 7am before he fell asleep again at around 10am.

He said: “I went to look at him and like I said I noticed his eye was very red...

"So I picked him up to have a look at him and his lips were blue and he was very floppy..very, very floppy. And I knew straight away something wasn't right."

Benham continued: "And immediately Sian got up..I mean I was holding him into me and I was sort of shouting at him as we were running over towards my mum's house..'cos I wanted to hear a response. I wanted something. I mean I even bit him on the shoulder."

He was asked how many times he bit the 18-month-old baby and replied: "I don't know. I put my mouth on him once.

“I don't know if I bit him a couple of times. I don't think I bit him loads.”

He said the two of them were "shouting, screaming and panicking", adding: "Saying the word ‘Sian, Sian what the hell is wrong with him? What the hell is wrong with him?’ Basically. But in a very hysterical way."

The detective asked about the biting and Benham replied: "Yeah, I did. I bit him..I even shook him. I was saying ‘Alfie. Alfie' And nothing.

"Well I was just screaming in his head..as soon as I got into the house and give him to my mum I wanted to chuck water all over him and my mum's saying ‘No you need to phone the ambulance.’.”

The court has previously heard how Benham's mother started CPR and a critical-care paramedic arrived at the scene when it was “immediately apparent to them that Alfie had been dead for some time”.

Benham and Hedges, a cleaner of Fillace Park, Yelverton, Devon, both deny murder and or allowing a child to die.

The trial continues.