A WOMAN visiting an injured child in hospital pressed his head into the bed and said aggressively, "It's all right", a court has heard.

During the two-year-old boy's brief ordeal, Amanda Lewis-Brown's knuckles and fingernails turned white with the pressure she was applying, it was claimed.

Although a nurse arrived at the bedside in Alder Hey Hospital, Lewis-Brown did not appear to notice her and continued pushing his head, alleged Pamela Badley, prosecuting.

Lewis-Brown, 29, formerly of of Woodridge, Windmill Hill, has denied a cruelty charge.

Ms Badley told Liverpool Crown Court that the child had been admitted to hospital following a traffic accident.

He was put in a special bed, inflated with air, to ensure he was in a comfortable position.

When Lewis-Brown arrived in the ward she was concerned about the way he was lying in the bed but was told it was the most comfortable position and that moving him would do more harm than good.

To secure a tube which had been inserted into the boy's foot, nurse Lyndsey Beal had to go and get a bandage.

Giving evidence, Nurse Beal told the court that the defendant was leaning over the child holding his head.

"She seemed to have a tight grip on him.

"He had his left cheek on the bed. I felt the grip she had on him was too tight.

"I asked Nurse Jackson to watch them while I got the bandage."

She said that, when she returned, Lewis-Brown's face was pushed against the side of his head: "Her knuckles and fingernails were white with the pressure.

"This was going on for about 15 seconds. The boy was crying; he was distressed. He was screaming even though it was muffled. I could not believe what I was seeing.

"I started to bandage his foot only for a matter of seconds and then spoke quite sharply saying, 'be careful you do not pull that tube out.'

"Her reaction was to sit bolt upright in the chair and just stare at me. She did not say a thing. I did not know what to do. I've never seen anything like this."

The police were then called.

The case continues.

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