Former boyfriend of Kemarni's mother accused of lying to jury on the stand
The drug dealing former boyfriend of the mother of Kemarni Watson Darby has denied repeatedly lying about the death of the three-year-old.
Taking the stand for the fifth full day of evidence in his murder trial, Nathaniel Pope, aged 32, was quizzed about the last time he saw Kemarni alive before he was rushed to hospital on June 5, 2018, where he would die of massive internal injuries.
When unable to say how far the boy lifted his hand to put "his thumbs up", Pope was accused of lying to the jury.
The prosecutor Tony Badenoch QC said: "These are the last living moments of a young boy, not aged three, who you say you had a good relationship with and you said to the police he put "his thumbs up" but now you are saying it was one hand so it would be "his thumb up"."
When Pope said "couldn't remember properly" and only had "a vague" recollection the prosecutor said: "You are having problems remembering because when you begin lying it is hard to remember what you have said in the past about these lies."
Pope replied: "Yes it is."
Mr Badenoch said: "You've been lying to fit your story around the evidence. You have been painting a picture of yourself as a non-committed, cannabis smoking, relaxed part of the household to the jury and you have been lying."
The jury heard earlier this week Pope had convictions for assault and crack and heroin dealing.
Pope again claimed that despite living with Alicia Watson in West Bromwich and introducing her to his family in London, that he did not class her as his girlfriend. He said it was only after seeing the police notes about Kemarni's injuries when he thought she could have killed him.
However, when asked if knowing he was in a relationship with a child killer stopped him from sleeping, he said "no".
The prosecutor finished his questioning by claiming Pope and Watson had beaten Kemarni to death because of his bad behaviour, with one egging the other on, over several weeks in the spring of 2018.
Mr Badenoch said: "Either you were hitting him and she was encouraging you, or she was hitting him and you were encouraging her."
However, Pope's defence team argued the prosecution needed to tell Pope exactly what he is accused of in the afternoon Kemarni died.
Watson is expected to take the stand for the first time on Friday.
Alicia Watson, 30, of Handsworth, Birmingham, and Pope, 32, from Wolverhampton, deny murder and child cruelty charges.
The trial continues.
