of Shaken Baby Syndrome.

Tiny 10-month-old Cannice Joann White died four days after she was taken to the intensive care unit of the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital by her father Daniel Cann, of South Road, Paget.

Doctors found the baby had no pulse, was not breathing and had injuries to her brain. Their efforts to save her failed.

In Supreme Court, yesterday, Cann denied charges of murder and causing grievous bodily harm with the intent to burn his daughter in May 1991.

Opening the case for the prosecution, Mr. Mark Pettingill told the jury that it was the Crown's case that Cannice had been violently shaken which caused haemorrhaging to her brain resulting in her death. He added that burns to the back of both her hands and on her chest were caused by a clothes iron. The girl also had spiral fractures to both her legs.

Mr. Pettingill said: "The Crown has a theory as to what happened. You will hear how, in 1988, Darlene White was vacationing in Bermuda where she met the defendant. They formed an intimate relationship and as a result the child was born.

"Darlene White visited Bermuda in 1991 bringing the baby with her. The defendant wanted to spend some time with Cannice and the mother allowed him to see the child on a one-on-one basis over two days.

"On the first of the two days she noticed burn marks on both her daughter's hands and just below her left nipple. The explanation was that Cannice had pulled an iron onto herself. She was also told that her daughter had been accidentally knocked unconscious when she fell off a couch.

"Ms White allowed Cann to spend the second day with Cannice. Around noon he showed up at the hospital with Cannice where it was found that her heart had stopped and she had stopped breathing.'' Doctors tried to save the little girl and put her on a life support machine, but it was turned off, on June 3, when she was found to be brain dead.

Mr. Pettingill said: "The only reasonable conclusion we can draw is that this man deliberately burned his daughter and on the following day he shook her so violently and with such force that she suffered acute haemorrhaging in her brain and died as a result.'' Cann took Cannice to the hospital's emergency unit at 11.15 a.m. on May 30, 1991, and handed her over to Dr. Jane Crerar. Dr. Crerar said: "She was pulse-less and was not breathing. She had no heartbeat.'' Along with director of the emergency unit Dr. Edward Schultz, Dr. Crerar attempted to resuscitate Cannice. The little girl's heart began to beat again but she was still not breathing and was placed on a ventilator.

Both doctors checked the child's eyes and saw signs of bleeding at the rear of the eyes.

Crown Counsel Mr. Stephen Harrison, part of the prosecution team with Mr.

Pettingill, asked about Cann's demeanour when he entered the hospital with the baby.

Dr. Crerar said: "He walked into the department. He did not rush in or appear agitated. When I told him the condition of the child he did appear anxious.

"He said that he had been going up the stairs and the child had been behind him. He heard a noise and turned to saw the child had gone limp.'' Cann then explained to Dr. Crerar how Cannice had received the burns on her hands and chest from the iron. He also told her of earlier incidents where the child fell off the couch and had fallen out of bed, with her mother.

Dr. Crerar said: "I was concerned that the child had been the victim of a non-accidental injury. I discussed it with Dr. Schultz who had the same concerns.

"The reasons for my concerns was the catalogue of accidents, the burns and the apparent head injury without any external trauma.'' Defence lawyer Mr. Delroy Duncan pointed out bruises on the child's head visible on photographs taken after her death, although Dr. Crerar had said she had not noticed any external signs of injury.

Mr. Duncan asked if it should be taken into account that witnesses had noticed Cannice was listless, had bruises on her body and had made a strange "siren noise'' as though she was in pain the day before she was taken to hospital.

Dr. Crerar agreed these factors should be taken into account in trying to find an explanation for the little girl's death.

Dr. Schultz has dealt with at least 20 cases of child abuse and helped in providing a list of signs that could signify child abuse to doctors. He said: "I was highly suspicious that the child had suffered physical child abuse. I was highly suspicious that the child had sustained some kind of shaking injury that had haemorrhaged into her brain.

"It is very rare to see such haemorrhaging in a child who has not received significant head trauma, or Shaken Baby Syndrome.'' He explained Shaken Baby Syndrome as the shaking of the child's head which moves the brain rupturing fixed vessels which are "bridges'' to the skull.

Under cross examination from Mr. Duncan, Dr. Schultz stressed he believed the baby had been shaken repeatedly, although he had no idea how many times or on how many occasions.

The case, in front of Puisne Judge the Hon. Mrs. Justice Wade continues today.

ON TRIAL -- Daniel Cann who is accused of murdering his baby daughter.