A four-year-old boy suffered a catalogue of injuries in the six months he spent with adoptive parents before his death, a court heard.

Social worker David Pamely said the couple claimed the injuries were self inflicted or accidental. He said there was no history of such injuries prior the boy moving in with them.

Mr Pamely said he did not ask the child about the injuries and accepted the couple's explanation for them.

John Antony Smith died from a brain haemorrhage on Christmas Eve, 1999. The court was told he had 54 external injuries and four adult bite marks on his body.

John's adoptive parents, Simon McWilliam, 41, and his wife Michelle, 35, of Gardner Road, Fishersgate, Southwick, deny cruelty.

Mr Pamely told Lewes Crown Court yesterday he became involved with John when he was three months old.

The boy was taken from his natural parents and he went to foster parents for 17 months before moving in with the McWilliams in June 1999.

The first report of injuries came less than three months later.

Mr Pamely said Michelle McWilliams reported bruising on the boy's face where he had bumped into a table and bruises on his spine where he had slid down stairs.

Marks on the boy's arm were attributed to Michelle McWilliam grabbing him to stop him falling downstairs again, the jury was told.

Mr Pamely said the same month the couple reported the boy was "throwing himself round the house and falling downstairs".

Mr Pamely said he was shocked when he later saw a red mark on the boy's face, apparently caused by a carpet burn.

He held the boy in his arms on a lounge chair, gently rocking him: "He then sobbed his heart out. He cried with a sense of relief and letting go, it seemed to me."

Asked by Camden Pratt, prosecuting, whether there had been any history of such self harm in the past, Mr Pamely said: "None at all. I had not seen it before."

In October, Mrs McWilliam reported John had hurt his penis and in early November Mr Pamely said he saw an abrasion on the boy's left forehead and faint bruising on the temple.

Mr Pamely said the McWilliams told him the abrasions came from falling downstairs. He said: "I accepted what they were saying."

Mr Pamely said he did not talk to the boy about it because the McWilliams feared it would create more anxiety in the boy.

He visited two days later and found John with a black eye, bruising round the temple, two bruises on his left cheek and a jagged abrasion under the cheek.

Mr Pamely said Mrs McWilliam explained John had been difficult that morning and had been sat on a "naughty chair" in the hallway.

She was out of sight when he had apparently fallen off, causing the injuries, the court was told.

Mr Pamely said he did not ask the boy how it happened or how many times he hit his head: "I was not expecting him to tell me. I trusted what the McWilliams told me."

On November 17, Mr Pamely found new marks on both sides of John's jaw and four small bruises above his mouth. The small marks, he was told, were made by another boy at John's school.

Mr Pamely noticed swelling on the boy's lips which made him lisp when he spoke.

On November 22, Michelle McWilliam said John had spent five or ten minutes hitting her. Her husband told Mr Pamely he could not handle violence and he had not wanted a difficult child, the court heard.

On December 3, Michelle McWilliam said John had punched her, splitting her lip and bruising her arm, the jury was told. Mr Pamely said Michelle McWilliam told him she and her husband felt exasperated and useless.

The case continues.