A doctor told a court in a murder trial yesterday of how medical staff fought for 45 minutes to revive a six-month-old baby only to find that she was brain dead.

Cassidy Ann Salahuddin was taken to hospital on May 5 last year by her father, Karim Shaheed Salahuddin, 25, who is charged with her murder.

Intensive Care Director Andrew Spence was called to examine Cassidy who was being given CPR with an oxygen mask strapped on her while her chest was pumped by medical staff applying thumb pressure to the chest.

He said Salahuddin had said she had rolled down a grassy embankment about ten minutes before she arrived in hospital.

Salahuddin, of Serpentine Road, Pembroke, is represented by Queen?s Counsel John Perry and defence lawyer Elizabeth Christopher.

The defence has said the fatal injuries were the result of a fall while he was carrying her in a baby carrier while the Crown alleges Salahuddin killed the baby by shaking and hitting her with sufficient force to cause shaken baby syndrome.

Dr. Spence told the Supreme Court jury: ?There was no pulse, there was an occasional electrical signal in the heart. It highlighted signs of prolonged lack of oxygen in the heart.?

He said staff managed to get a pulse with compression while he put a drip in her groin to give fluid and medication.

?We carried on for 45 minutes and achieved a rhythm in her heart and a sporadic pulse but there was no effort to breathe. We continued to breathe for her.?

He noticed severe bleeding in her eyes and summoned paediatrician Dr. Peter Perinchief.

The baby was moved into intensive care and a hole drilled through her skill to measure the pressure in her head.

He said quite a bit of blood escaped from the head which showed there was quite a bit of blood between the outer cover of the brain and the skull.

Powerful drugs were given to maintain the blood pressure and increase the output of the heart but he said there was no effective blood flow to the head.

?The pupils were not reacting to light, they were widely dilated.?

He said he believed the brain was dead from lack of oxygen. ?She had no functioning flow of blood to the brain. The condition was irrecoverable.?

He recommended tests to confirm the brain was dead.

?The degree of swelling in the brain when starved of oxygen takes some time to develop. My feeling was that ten minutes seemed a very brief space in time to what I had found with this child.

?I had a suspicion the length of time taken from the injury to Cassidy?s arrival in hospital was underestimated.?

He said it could have been an hour out but it was impossible to give an accurate time.

Dr. Spence was asked if the ribs could have been fractured during the CPR.

He said: ?If it?s possible I have never heard or seen it.?

He said studies of CPR had never mentioned babies ribs ? which he said were flexible ? being broken during CPR although the ribs of the elderly sometimes got broken.

Other medical specialists gave testimony yesterday.

Eye specialist Dr. Leonard Teye-Botchway said there had been bruising and swelling on Cassidy?s right eye lid and bleeding into the skin as well as extensive bleeding into the retina.

Asked if it was possible to have occurred from a fall while in a baby seat Dr. Teye-Botchway said: ?It would have to have been a very great fall to cause the injuries observed. If a child fell down a standard flight of stairs I would not expect this.?

Under cross examination from Mr. Perry, Dr. Teye-Botchway said the external trauma related to the right eye only.

He said retinal haemorrhaging can be caused by underlying medical conditions and accidental trauma.

Failing to breathe could also cause bleeding around the eye or behind the eyes said Dr. Teye-Botchway. Under re-examination by Mr. Ratneser, Dr. Teye-Botchway said bleeding in the eye and brain could be caused by severe head movements in children.

GP JJ Soares had been called to examine the child four hours after her admission to hospital and noticed her pupils dilated. He too noticed bleeding in the retinas of both eyes. There was also bruising to the right shoulder, inside the right upper arm and on her stomach and a small cut under her right eye.

The trial before Chief Justice Richard Ground continues on Monday.