Footage of a young dad's "calm and unfazed" reaction on arrest after his five-week-old daughter had been found seriously ill with brain damage and multiple fractures has been played in court​ today.

Jurors at the trial of Thomas Holford, accused of murdering Everleigh Stroud by excessive and severe shaking, ​watched ​the police body-worn camera recording in which he could be seen stretch​ing, nodd​ing and t​elling police he was tired after being cautioned on suspicion of child neglect and causing grievous bodily harm.

Just three hours earlier on April 21, 2021, his newborn had been found seriously unwell by her mum, Casey Stroud, at the home they shared with her parents in Wallwood Road, Ramsgate.

While ​Everleigh was taken to Margate's QEQM Hospital by ambulance with what w​as later diagnosed as​ a "profound and devastating non-accidental​ injury", Holford remained at the property where he told officers how he had fed and settled the tot while in his sole care overnight.

But Canterbury Crown Court heard that when police were updated by doctors that bruis​ing to her face w​as consistent with being grabbed with a hand, the decision was made to arrest Holford.

On arrival at the semi-detached house, PC Lianne Groves found the then 20-year-old still sitting in the living room, where he had given his initial account of events to PC Darren Smith earlier that morning.

Having stood up and stretched his arms with his phone in his hand, Holford was then told by PC Groves: "Right Tom, I'm sorry to have to do this but we have had an update from the hospital and they have said the injuries she has got to her face look like it's been done by a person.

"Now, obviously, the only person in there with her was yourself."

It was as the officer said "was yourself" that Holford could be seen pointing at himself and saying: "Was me."

PC Groves then continued: "It's only on suspicion but at the moment, the time is 12.05, I'm arresting you on suspicion of child neglect and grievous bodily harm."

She then cautioned Holford, to which he simply replied "OK" before being told he would be interviewed in regards to "your side of the story as there's always two sides".

He then handed his phone over on request, assisting PC Groves in switching it off.

Having sat down on a sofa, Holford held his head in one hand and could be heard to remark he was "so tired".

When told he could have a nap in his cell once in custody but warned it would not be very comfortable, Holford replied: "I can sleep anywhere."

In her official statement detailing her involvement in the investigation, which was read to the court by prosecutor Eloise Marshall KC, PC Groves recorded Holford as having made "no specific response" to his arrest and caution.

"Thomas Holford was very calm following arrest and did not appear fazed at all," she added.

PC Groves also described the bedroom shared by the defendant, Casey and Everleigh as "very small and cluttered".

"The room was not suitable for two adults and a newborn baby. The moses basket was on the bed and there appeared to be nowhere else for the baby to sleep," she explained.

Holford, now 24 and of Pedlars Close, Danbury in Essex, denies murder but has admitted manslaughter.

Jurors have been told that while it is accepted by him that he inflicted the catastrophic brain injuries and fractures to her ribs and lower leg, he disputes the prosecution case that he intended to kill Everleigh or cause her really serious harm.

He also denies a charge of assault causing actual bodily harm in relation to three anal tears said by an expert to have been caused by penetration of a penis, finger or object.

Having initially been taken to a local hospital, Everleigh's bruising and seizures were immediately assessed by doctors as being non-accidental and that urgent treatment at London's King's College Hospital was required.

She was said to have a heart rate of 196 and a temperature so low that it was unrecordable. Her fontanelle - the soft spot on top of a young baby's head - was also tense and bulging.

At King's College Hospital, the diagnosis was brain swelling, brain bleed and death to brain tissue cells.

The youngster also had haemorrhages to both eye retinas, fractures to both the left and right tibia in one leg, and fractures to two ribs.

The following day, and after extensive examinations, it was concluded by a paediatric intensive care specialist that she had suffered what he described as profound and devastating non-accidental injury with poor prognosis.

A fellow paediatrician at King's College, Dr Sreena Das, found that Everleigh's injuries were consistent with violent shaking, with the leg fractures caused by "twisting" of the limbs and the rib breaks "typical of when a child is violently held and shaken".

She added that such rib fractures could not be caused by resuscitation.

"In my opinion, the only explanation for the combination of head injuries and different fractures is non-accidental injury, in particular violent shaking," stated Dr Das.

"This is further supported by the findings of the eye examination which show bleeds into the back of the eye and in a pattern associated with violent shaking."

Another expert, paediatric neurosurgeon Amedeo Calisto, concluded Everleigh had sustained severe traumatic brain injury from a mechanism of "very vigorous, possibly repeated" head acceleration and deceleration "with or without impact against a semi-yielding surface".

He added that Everleigh would have been "immediately or nearly immediately" unwell, showing "very obvious" changes in demeanour and "very obvious" signs of pain.

Furthermore, the expert said it would be "inconceivable" that she would have fed in the subsequent minutes and hours.

The court has heard the youngster was left in a vegetative state and died, aged 14 months, on May 27, 2022.

Holford's trial continues and is expected to last up to four weeks.