Father accused of murdering his baby daughter lied to police about cannabis use

A father accused of killing his baby daughter has admitted lying to police about his cannabis use the night before causing her “catastrophic” injuries, a court heard.

Thomas Holford, 24, has denied murdering his daughter Everleigh Stroud, who died aged one after “excessive and severe” shaking led to brain and bone injuries when she was just five weeks old.

Everleigh was rushed to Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother Hospital in Margate, Kent, when her grandmother reported she was “only just” breathing on the morning of April 20 2021.

Along with brain injuries which left her in a vegetative state, she also had bone fractures, bruising to her face, atrophy to her eyes leading to her going blind and injuries to her anus having spent the night before in her father’s care, the court heard.

Everleigh, who was born on March 13 2021, spent more than a year in a vegetative state before she died at 14 months on May 27 2022.

Holford, of Ramsgate, claims he cannot remember what happened to cause Everleigh’s injuries, but accepts that it must have been he that caused them and has already pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

On Thursday, giving evidence to jurors at Canterbury Crown Court, Holford, wearing a black suit, black shirt and striped tie, said he had at least five joints on April 20 2021 before being left in charge of Everleigh that evening.

On that day, he was smoking more than usual because it was “420” which he agreed was a “big day for cannabis smokers”, the court heard.

When police arrived at his address in Wallwood Road, Ramsgate, where Holford, then 20, lived with his then 16-year-old girlfriend and her parents, they discovered a cannabis grinder and joint butts next to a milk bottle in his bedroom.

He told police that he had not smoked cannabis since 10am the previous morning, which he has now accepted was a lie.

Prosecting, Eloise Marshall KC asked: “When the police asked you what you’d smoked, you lied?”

“Yes,” Holford replied.

Asked why, he added: “I’m trying to project an image of something that is better than reality.”

He also suggested that he had done it to “protect” his girlfriend’s family, who were aware of his smoking but believed it was for medicinal purposes, the court heard.

The prosecution countered that Holford was only lying because he did not want the police to know he had been smoking when he was alone with Everleigh.

“If you hadn’t done something the night before you were worried about, you wouldn’t have bothered lying,” said Ms Marshall.

Holford told police that he had not smoked since the previous morning, when in fact he had rolled and smoked at least five joints through April 20, into the evening, the court heard.

Text messages shown to jurors also suggest that he tried to buy weed from a contact known as “Milo” because he knew he was looking after his daughter.

He sent a text which read: “Could you strap me anything, as I’ve got the little one on my own tonight. Going to be f—ing stressful.”

Holford also admitted he had “manipulated” his girlfriend’s family into taking care of his cannabis for him and allowing him to smoke it.

While in the witness box, he often answered questions to the effect of being unsure or not remembering what had happened.

“When it suits you, you have a memory – and when it doesn’t suit you, you pretend you don’t have a memory,” said Ms Marshall.

Later, she asked about his initial statements to police about the night of the incident: “Would you be the sort of person who could make up this kind of detailed lie?”

“I don’t know, I’m quite imaginative,” Holford replied.

He denies murder and also denies actual bodily harm caused around the same time to Everleigh’s anus.

Cross-examination of Holford will continue on Friday.