A jury has retired to consider verdicts in the trial of a mother-of-nine and her boyfriend who are both accused of being responsible for the death of her young baby from a “catastrophic” brain injury.

As well as the head injury, Eli Cox was found to have 28 fractures to bones in his body and had also been exposed to drugs at his home on the Isle of Sheppey.

Danny Shepherd, 25, and Katherine Cox, 33, now of Faversham, deny causing or allowing the death of a child between April 12 and 28 last year and causing or allowing physical harm to a child.

They also deny possessing the Class B drug amphetamine on April 14.

Maidstone Crown Court heard Eli suffered the fatal injuries at his home in Lapwing Close, Minster.

A medical expert said the 28 fractures of varying ages to 19 bones were consistent with being “twisted, pulled, crushed and bent in half’”.

Prosecutor Jennifer Knight said Eli suffered extensive brain damage consistent with shaking and caused by a prolonged period of insufficient oxygen to the brain.

It was suggested the injuries were inflicted on many different occasions leading up to the child’s collapse on Wednesday, April 13 last year. He died two weeks later.

Shepherd, known as Pickle, and Cox were the only adults in the four bedroom house at the time of the collapse.

“It was the actions of one of them that resulted in the catastrophic brain injury that Eli Cox suffered that day,” Miss Knight told the jury of nine men and three women.

“The events of that day were clearly the unhappy culmination of injuries Eli Cox suffered on many occasions, also inflicted by Danny Shepherd and Katharine Cox.

“Both were aware in the weeks leading up to April 13 and on the day of his death that Eli Cox was at serious risk of physical harm.

“They were aware of it because one was the perpetrator and the other knew that perpetrator presented a risk to Eli.”

Miss Knight said Shepherd, who was not the child’s father, had a stick he labelled “Pickle’s beating stick”. He claimed he had it to control their dogs.

After Eli was taken to hospital a Vanish tub in the garden shed was found to contain five small bags of amphetamine. Samples from Eli’s hair showed he had been exposed to the drug, as well as cocaine.

Both Cox and Shepherd denied taking amphetamine. Cox admitted she used cannabis.

A pathologist found the fractures were caused on five different occasions, some of which were almost exclusively non-accidental. Nine were at the back of his rib cage.

The oldest fractures were up to 10 weeks before death.

Miss Knight said Cox had separated from Eli’s father by thetime of his birth on November 27 2015. She started a relationship with Shepherd in the summer of that year and he moved into the four-bedroom house in November.

After being alerted by Shepherd that Eli had turned blue, Cox called for an ambulance saying the baby was not breathing.

Shepherd performed “adult” chest compressions using both hands.

Cox asked: “Pickle, what have you done?” Shepherd had said: “I will get the blame for this. They will blame me.”

Once in the ambulance, Eli was ventilated and CPR continued. He was still not breathing on his own on arrival at Medway Hospital.

Eli was transferred to London’s King’s College Hospital. A further scan showed there was extensive brain damage. He remained on a ventilator.

“It was apparent Eli would never recover,” said Miss Knight. “Life support was withdrawn and Eli died on April 27.”

Shepherd maintained in evidence that he had never harmed the baby in any way. Cox did not give evidence but had claimed in police interviews she was not aware of Eli being injured.