boyfriend slapping and punching the baby but did not stop him.

Sharina Anne Tuzo also said she saw the child was injured but did not call a doctor, Supreme Court heard yesterday.

Tuzo, 21, who denies the manslaughter of five-month-old Saed Rami Nadir Young, told Police her boyfriend, Jermaine Pearman, was "always rough'' with the baby in the week before he died, but claimed she didn't realise the child's injuries were serious.

Saed died of a fractured skull in King Edward VII Memorial Hospital on August 19, 1997, three days after spending more than a week in Tuzo's home in Bob's Valley Lane, Sandys.

Asked by Detective Sergeant Simon Groves if she felt responsible for the baby's injuries, Tuzo replied: "Yes. If I had noticed what Jermaine was doing, everything would be all right.'' Pearman, 27, also of Bob's Valley Lane, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of the baby on Monday and will be sentenced on November 1.

In interview with Det. Sgt. Groves, Tuzo revealed Pearman often shouted at the baby, shook him, slapped him, "play punched'' him on the stomach, and flicked his head.

Tuzo said that in the time the baby was in her care, he became less energetic, started drinking more fluids, slept more and the colour of his excrement changed.

On one occasion, Saed sustained an injury to his foot when he supposedly fell out of a baby stroller when he was in Pearman's care.

The baby also fell off a couch once when he was propped up with pillows.

Tuzo said she and Pearman slept in the same bed as Saed, but Pearman got angry when the baby kept waking and crying because he was teething.

She said Pearman would start shouting every time the child woke up.

One day Pearman began shouting at the baby after Tuzo put Anbesol on his gums when he was teething.

In her statement to Det. Sgt. Groves, she said: "Jermaine started shouting and grabbing his arms and shaking him about to stop the noise.

Tuzo did not realise severity of injuries "He put him on the bed and pushed his head down every time Saed put it up.

Every day he was rough with him.

"He would pull him by the arms and push his head down and sometimes he would spank him on his pampers. Sometimes he would shake him and scream at him.'' Senior Crown counsel Brian Calhoun told the court on Wednesday that Tuzo was charged with the manslaughter of Saed because she "failed in her legal duty of care to remove the child from danger when he was being abused and when injured to try to get this child medical attention''.

On another occasion, Saed was in his stroller when Pearman was looking after him. When Tuzo returned, the child was on the floor.

Tuzo said: "I asked what had happened and Jermaine said the stroller had fallen over. I asked how, and he said he didn't know. It seemed weird for the stroller to have fallen over. I kept questioning him and he kept saying he didn't know.'' Tuzo later admitted that Pearman had put a plaster on the baby's foot, although he did not explain why he had done so.

She said that on August 16, the morning of the day the baby was rushed to hospital, Saed had been sleeping with her and Pearman on a queen sized bed.

Pearman was sleeping by the wall, she was on the edge, and the child was in the middle.

She said she went to the bathroom and returned a maximum of two minutes later to find Saed lying on the floor with his bottle under his face.

"I picked him up and tried to give him his bottle, but he didn't want it. I assumed he was full up and put him back on the bed.

"At 2 p.m. he opened his eyes, and I gave him his bottle and he was biting at it. After I laid Saed down the first time, I woke Jermaine up and asked him what happened. He asked: `How did that happen?' and I told him I didn't know.'' She said that when the child's mother, Roshea Lovette Eugenia Young, 23, came to pick up Saed at about 6 p.m., she told her about the baby falling out of the bed and alleged Ms Young said that that happens sometimes.

During the interview, when Det. Sgt. Groves told her she must have known more about the injuries and who inflicted them, Tuzo replied: "I never saw Jermaine do anything to Saed that I thought would really harm him. If I had, I would have licked him.

"I saw him slap him on the leg, play punch him on the chest and skitch him (poked his finger beneath his back and head and flicked his finger over his head.'' She said Saed was "joyful''at first, but during his stay with her it changed.

"When Jermaine had him, he was cranky, but he was always fine with me. By Wednesday, he was quiet and just lay there.

"It took more effort to make him laugh and smile and he slept a lot more.'' She said he began to drink more fluids and his excrement changed colour.

She later admitted that by the Tuesday, Saed was sweating, he had a bruise on the left hand side of his face, and a red mark on his neck.

When asked by Det. Sgt. Groves if she was concerned about the injuries and had sought medical attention, she said: "Yes, I was concerned, but all these incidents, I never thought they were serious.'' She rejected a suggestion by Det. Sgt. Groves that the reason she kept the child for a few extra days after she was supposed to return him was to allow the baby's injuries to heal.

When asked: "Why, when you knew the child was injured, did you not seek medical attention?'' she replied: "I don't know.'' "Did you ever think Jermaine presented a real danger to Saed?'' "No, not from what I saw. He was always being rough. He used to torment him, pinch his stomach and punch his stomach, but I never thought he was in danger.' When asked if she was negligent, she replied: "No, not me.'' "If you had paid more attention to what happened, could you have prevented the injuries?'' "Yes. If I had noticed what was going on. I did notice Jermaine always wanted Saed around him.'' The trial before Chief Justice Austin Ward continues today.

Sharina Anne Tuzo COURTS CTS