Lovers Stella Miller and Robert Clifford strolled from their flat hand in hand swinging their arms.

They appeared as if they did not have a care in the world, a court was told yesterday. But behind them in a cot lay the tiny battered body of Millers 20 month old son Mark covered in 88 bruises.

The couples morning stroll was to a nearby phone box to call an ambulance said Mr Martin Collins QC, prosecuting at Liverpool Crown Court.

Yet when ambulance men arrived at the flat Clifford greeted them with the words “ He’s dead.”

They found Mark’s chest and stomach covered in bruises and weals. The night before he added a neighbour at the flats in Greenway Road Specs, Liverpool, had heard a baby crying and Clifford shouting.

There was then a loud scream from the baby and then no more noise said Mr Collins. It was the next morning that the couple were seen strolling from the flat and seeming not to have a care in the world.

Miller,21 , and Clifford, 26, both plead not guilty to the murder of Mark.

The case before Mr Justice Kilner Brown is expected to last nine days.