A DOCTOR told how he discovered by chance that a critically ill baby boy had suffered a fracture to his arm.

Dr Manigandan Chandrasekaran said three-month-old Jack was not breathing and had no pulse when he arrived at Basildon Hospital but after several minutes of working on him doctors managed to find a heart beat.

On cross examination by Sally O'Neill QC, defence counsel for Joanne Mallinder, Dr Chandrasekaran said he was surprised to find a fracture to his upper arm when he was given a chest x-ray and he had not noticed any swelling or bruising around the arm while Jack was being treated.

Dr Rjesh Sharma, who is a specialist registrar of children's health at the hospital, said as he examined Jack he spoke to his parents about the events leading up to his emergency admission on February 13 2006.

Dr Sharma said Mallinder, who is alleged to have caused the severe brain damage and six fractures to Jack's arms and legs which eventually led to his death on March 20 last year, told him Jack was fine until around 3pm when he became "grumpy".

He told the jury at Basildon Crown Court on Friday: "She fed him and put him to sleep. Following that at about 8.30pm she heard him crying and he stopped breathing.

"At that point she started to give him mouth to mouth breathing."

He also said after learning of the fracture to his arm he asked Mallinder if there was any history of "trauma" and she said no.

Dr Raouf Bessif, a radiologist at the hospital also gave evidence and told how he noticed "subtle" bruising to the child's brain when he studied his CT scan.

Dr Bessif also accepted on cross examination by Mrs O'Neill QC that he did not see any swelling to the brain but he could not exclude it.

Mallinder, 37, of Leicester Road, Tilbury, denies murder.

The trial continues.