Wigan dad accused of killing his baby daughter tells jury his version of events

As his trial at Manchester Crown Court entered its third week, Daniel Ashurst took to the stand to give evidence in his defence.

The 33-year-old denies both the murder and manslaughter of 14-month-old Hollie.

Wearing a white, long-sleeved shirt and black tie, Ashurst said he had never harmed the tot and denied biting or shaking her.

He was caring for her while his partner Leanne Thompson went to work for only the second day of a new job at a hair salon.

After dropping her off at work, Ashurst went to Asda in Wigan with Hollie.

He said he thought she looked “absolutely beautiful” so decided to have photographs taken at a Max Spielmann concession. They had breakfast and returned to the family’s home on Fleming Court, Shevington, the hearing was told.

Ashurst said he placed Hollie in her cot and did jobs around the house, including framing the photos. He went to change Hollie’s nappy and put her on the bed in the bedroom, leaving her there while he went to the en suite bathroom to get something.

When he returned, he said he found she had fallen to the floor. She did not appear to be injured, but had “blood saliva” running from her mouth.

Ashurst went to see Sarah Jolley, someone he knew from a gym, to pay her £50 for a diet plan, leaving Hollie outside in the car with the engine running. He said he then returned home and played with Hollie in the living room, before feeding her and putting her back in the cot.

She did not sleep, so Ashurst said he put her on the floor to play, though she followed him around instead.

Hollie stayed upstairs when Ashurst went downstairs to do housework, including going out to the bin, and when he returned, he heard her making a “whingeing” sound and found her lying face down on a step.

“When I got to her she was shaking from head to toe. Her full body was shaking from head to toe,” he said.

Ashurst said he picked up Hollie and tried to get her attention. She had a graze on her head.

He felt “panicky” and thinks he was having a panic attack.

He told the jury he went down the stairs, but he felt the pocket of his shorts catch on something and rip.

“It caused me to slip. Upon slipping, I lost grip of Hollie. I didn’t see how she fell,” he said.

Ashurst, who said he also fell down the stairs, heard a gasp of air come from her mouth and decided to drive to Wigan Infirmary.

He was “well shook up” as he drove. He said Hollie was moving in the car seat but her condition was deteriorating.

Ashurst said he then braked hard at traffic lights causing Hollie to fall out of the car seat and land on the floor behind the passenger seat. He picked her up, pulled her between the seats and put her on his knee.

Ashurst went to Standish Medical Centre instead and the court was shown CCTV footage of him running in with Hollie in his arms. He asked for help and a GP went to treat Hollie, though he described the situation at the surgery as “chaotic”, with doors locked and staff struggling to access equipment.

“I was pacing up and down, I had my head in my hands. I didn’t know what was going on. I couldn’t understand what was up with her at all,” he said. Ashurst said he felt “helpless”.

He did not have his mobile phone to call Leanne, but borrowed other people’s phones to try to contact her, he said.

Ashurst said he could not sit down when he arrived at Wigan Infirmary’s A&E as he was “too worked up” and was “earwigging” to find out what was happening to Hollie.

After she was transferred to Royal Manchester Children’s Hospital, he said he and Leanne waited more than four hours in a family room without updates on their daughter’s condition.

He was arrested that night on suspicion of section 18 assault.

He said: “I used to love spending time with her. To be told or suggested that I had done something to hurt her was really, really nasty and bad.”

Ashurst replied “no comment” to police in interviews, which he said was on legal advice.

The court had earlier heard that on February 27 - the day before Hollie was rushed to hospital - Ashurst went for a haircut and took his daughter with him, before they went for breakfast in Wigan town centre.

He bought shorts before driving home, where Leanne was doing a woman’s nails while her three-year-old son played in the living room. Hollie played with him while Ashurst went upstairs, but said he saw the boy snatch things from the baby’s hands.

He later went to an appointment at Claire House, while Leanne took Hollie to the library. At 5.50pm, he took a picture of Hollie being bathed by Leanne.

Ashurst said: “Before she got in the bath, she (Leanne) took her upstairs to change her and she shouted me up to have a look at a mark on her leg. I went up to have a look at it and it was a red mark on her thigh.”

This mark is what the jury has heard is thought to be a bite mark. He says when he saw it, it did not look like the photograph that was later taken.

That night, Leanne went to bed early and he had two cans of lager while watching television.

Ashurst admitted taking cocaine between 9.30pm and 10pm, before going to bed.

He said it had become “the norm” for him to drink three or four cans of alcohol a night, but he did not get drunk. He had contacted Addaction, but said it was on the advice of mental health services.

Ashurst also admitted using cocaine two or three times a week since 2016, saying it made him feel “relaxed, happy”.

During cross-examination, he said he was “not proud” of taking cocaine and insisted it had been on the evening of February 27, not the following day when he was caring for Hollie.

“I’m not the kind of person who would wake up in a morning and take cocaine and certainly not when I am spending the day with my daughter,” he said.

Leanne and Ashurst slept in separate rooms after an argument - the subject of which he could not remember.

Ashurst drove her to work and while he said there “wasn’t a lot of conversation” between them, they had made up by the time she arrived at the salon.

The court heard Ashurst started having problems with anxiety when he was 24 or 25 and received medication for that, as well as depression.

He said he and Leanne did not have money problems, telling the court about the benefits he received, along with money from his mother and an inheritance following the death of his father in 2010.

Various text messages between Ashurst and family friend Craig Forshaw, from whom he leased a car, were also discussed in court.

Mr Forshaw asked if he could borrow money, but Ashurst admitted he “misled” him when he said he did not have the money, as he did not want to say no to the request.

Proceeding.