I have never hurt a child says accused

In a police interview, 29-year-old builder Daniel Joyce said anyone who caused such injuries should be “strung up” and he suggested he was being stitched up over the incident at a house in Huddersfield last year.

The boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, had to undergo surgery at Leeds General Infirmary to remove an obstructed section of his bowel and to repair various tears after a 999 call was made to the emergency services.

But during his evidence to a jury at Bradford Crown Court yesterday, Joyce, of Bankfield Road, Longroyd Bridge, Huddersfield, repeatedly denied he had caused the injuries.

Although Joyce has previous convictions for violent offences, he told the jury they related to fights in town after he had been drinking.

The child, who made legal history by becoming the youngest person to give evidence in a criminal trial at the age of four, said “Danny” stamped on his stomach. But Joyce told officers that the youngster would come out with “random things” and he claimed that the boy called him by the nickname “Ginksy”.

Joyce has denied charges of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and alternatively causing grievous bodily harm.

The trial continues.