The adoptive father of a two-year-old girl he is accused of murdering has told a jury: "I didn’t hurt her, then or at any other time."

Former farm worker and shepherd Jan Gholami, 34, has denied killing Zahra Ghulami at their home in Gravesend in May 2020.

The child died from a serious head wound after claims she had fallen down 13 stairs.

Gholami wept as he said that when he took the decision to turn off the life-support machine at the hospital he claimed staff forced him and his wife Roqia Ghulami out of the room.

They were later arrested and charged with murdering the child after coming to Britain from Afghanistan.

Gholami, who worked handing out leaflets for a pizza restaurant, said he came to Britain in January 2016 after his father was beheaded by the Taliban.

The prosecution has alleged he and his wife murdered Zahra, who had been adopted after her mother died in childbirth.

Speaking through a Dari interpreter, he said: "I was glad to have Zahra and treated her as well if not better than my other three children."

Gholami, of Oak Road, Gravesend, began weeping as he was shown pictures of the family on day trips to London and in Kent.

He told how they lived in Wallis Park, Gravesend, where the neighbours "harassed my family repeatedly" and one claimed he punched his wife. He denied the assault.

"I wanted to go to Tesco and when I left Zahra was fine,” he said. “She had finished eating her breakfast and fruit. She was healthy.

"When I got back home Zahra was very bad. I didn't speak with my wife in the supermarket. My son said Zahra had fallen down the stairs.

"I called Zahra and she didn't respond. Her hand shook a little but after that she didn't respond."

He said he called a friend to come to his home and took her to hospital.

"At the hospital, I was concerned about what was going to happen to my daughter.

“I tried to explain to a doctor but he didn't understand so I took the Tesco receipt to show him the time."

The prosecution has claimed the child was killed by the couple who then used the supermarket trip as a false alibi.

Zahra's adoptive mother did not give evidence in the trial and chose to remain silent.

Roqia Ghulami, 33, has also denied killing the child, who suffered a severe brain injury, in May 2020.

She had told police how she heard a noise and found Zahra at the bottom of the stairs.

She told police: "I picked her up and she was motionless. She began vomiting. It was a shock and I was just crying."

The jury is expected to retire to consider its verdict early next year.