A jury at Leeds Crown Court has heard injuries of varying ages, including six arm and leg fractures, were discovered after Amy Louise Howson's death last December, which had allegedly been inflicted in previous weeks by her father, James Howson.

Colin Hunt said he was unexpectedly looking after Amy because his daughter Tina Hunt, her mother, had been taken to hospital with low blood sugar and Howson had gone with
her. The baby seemed to be crying all the time. "When I tried to take her coat off she wouldn't let me. She couldn't move her arm and when I tried to, every time she was screaming."

When his daughter collected Amy he told her to take the child to a doctor because something might be wrong. Howson was waiting outside at the time.

Gary Burrell QC, prosecuting, told him: "We know the child was never in fact taken to the doctor's." Howson, 25, of Nelson Road, Edlington, Doncaster, denies murdering Amy and cruelty by assaulting her.

He had previously denied a second offence of cruelty by failing to get medical attention and treatment for her but yesterday changed his plea to guilty on that charge.

The prosecution claims assaults on Amy culminated in Howson killing her when her back was "snapped in two" and she suffered a severe head injury.

Tina Hunt, 26, has admitted allowing the death of her child by failing to protect her and cruelty by failing to get medical attention.

Mr Hunt said he noticed a change in Amy after February last year when she seemed pale and no longer cheerful. She was usually in bed when he visited the home, even during the day.

On December 23 Tina rushed hysterically to his house, saying Amy was having trouble breathing. He returned with her and saw the baby had a large bruise on her forehead which Howson said was caused when she fell out of bed.

Under cross-examination by James Goss QC, defending, he agreed Howson idolised Amy and described her as "his jewel".

The jury heard a statement from Howson's sister Donna that she visited on December 14 and Amy cried out when she tried to pick her up. "She looked really frail and her head looked bigger than her body. She did seem fazed out, just staring into space. This is not how she had been previously – giggling and gurgling."

The jury heard that at death Amy weighed about 6.21 kilogrammes, the same as she had done nearly 10 months earlier. Had she progressed as expected for her age, with proper nourishment she should have weighed about 8.3 kilogrammes.

Howson's mother, Jane Wilkinson, said in a statement that for months Tina Hunt seemed reluctant for anyone to pick up or handle Amy and she felt concerned Tina would only give a bottle of milk to Amy and not solids. Mrs Wilkinson said her son rang her for advice about Amy, saying she screamed when he picked her up. She suggested he got Tina to take the child to the doctor but he told her Tina had refused to take her and prevented him from doing so.

The trial continues on Monday.