A man accused of murdering his girlfriend’s 18-month-old son has told a jury she must have killed the boy as he denied responsibility for the toddler’s death.

Jack Benham, 35, and his then partner Sian Hedges, 27, are accused of subjecting Alfie Phillips to a sustained and fatal assault in a caravan they shared in Hernhill in November 2020.

They both deny murdering the youngster, who had 70 visible injuries and a number of broken bones at the time of his death.

Taking the stand today during the trial at Maidstone Crown Court, former solider Benham was shown images depicting the injuries and was asked to explain how they were caused.

The dad-of-two said: "They are horrific, but 100% I didn't hurt him."

Prosecutor Jennifer Knight, KC, asked: "If you are telling the truth, there were only two people there, so if you didn't kill Alfie, then Sian did. Is that what you are saying?"

Benham replied: "Yes.”

He added: "I did think she was a great mum and would not hurt her child."

Ms Knight asked: "So when your counsel said she was a good mother, you should have said 'She isn't. I was 100% wrong about her’. Why didn't you say that?"

Benham replied: "I don't know."

The prosecutor said that if Benham was telling the truth, then between 5am and 11am on November 28, as he slept, Hedges beat her child to death, breaking his arms and legs.

He replied: "That's what could have only happened because he didn't have any broken arms, legs, and ribs earlier because he was running around."

Ms Knight said the injuries would have caused Alfie "immense pain", adding that while they were inflicted he would have been crying and thrashing about as if someone was trying to suffocate him.

She asked: "Are you saying that all of this took place while you were sleeping and Sian did it just a few feet away from you in that caravan?"

He replied: "I did not hear or see anything. I'm telling you I was passed out."

The prosecutor added: "You both know what happened to Alfie don't you?"

Benham, who said he woke up with Alfie lifeless under his legs, answered: "100% no."

The jury was previously told that Benham was heard saying “What have I done?” at the hospital where Alfie was taken.

On the stand, Benham earlier said: "I did say that. When I woke up I thought I had suffocated him. I thought that I had killed him."

He was asked by his barrister, Ian Henderson KC: "At any stage did you deliberately hurt Alfie?"

Benham replied: "No."

He then denied being responsible for any of Alfie's injuries.

The warehouseman was asked if he was aware that Alfie's mother had deliberately hurt her baby.

He told the jury: "Sian never ever hurt Alfie."

Previously, Hedges cried in the dock as the prosecution outlined the case against her and Benham during the trial’s opening.

The jury was told she had recently split from Alfie's father, Sam Phillips, and was living with her son and new boyfriend in a caravan in the back garden of Benham’s parents’ home in Hernhill.

On the evening of Friday, November 27, 2020, she and Benham were in his parents’ house with Alfie, where the toddler was said to have been looking well and without visible injuries by several of Benham’s relatives.

The youngster was taken back to the caravan at 7pm and was not seen again by anyone other than Benham and Hedges until about 11.30am the following morning.

It was during these hours it is alleged Alfie was murdered.

The court was told that shortly before 11.30am on the Saturday, Benham came to the main house with Alfie in his arms. The toddler was described as “blue and floppy” and was not breathing.

Benham’s mother, Joan Benham, started performing CPR in the living room and his father, Mark Benham, called 999.

Paramedics arrived within 10 minutes but it was immediately apparent to them Alfie had been “dead for some time”, said prosecutor Jennifer Knight.

Mrs Benham noticed a number of bruises to Alfie’s face she said had not been there the night before.

Benham came into the living room and told paramedics Alfie had been grumpy the night before so they took him into bed with them - and when they woke Alfie was trapped under Benham’s legs and they could not wake him.

Alfie was taken to the QEQM and pronounced dead at 12.35pm.

A skeletal survey and post-mortem examinations revealed he had multiple fractures to both of his arms, his ribs and one leg, as well as widespread bruising, marks and scrapes across his body.

Tests indicated many of the breaks to his bones would have occurred in the hours before Alfie’s death

Benham, of Highstreet Road, Hernhill, and Hedges, of Fillace Park, Yelverton, Devon, deny murder and an alternative charge of causing or allowing the death of a child.

The trial continues.