A WOMAN has denied murdering a baby in her care despite telling a court she hit and bit him when he was 'naughty'. Agnes Wong, 28, wept as she told how 16-month-old Hugo Wang went limp as she bathed him.

The case had to be stopped for several minutes as she broke down while giving evidence on the first anniversary of the child's death. Hugo was staying at Wong's flat in Frank Cowin Court, Lower Broughton, Salford, when he suffered fatal head injuries.

Wong, 28, denies his murder but told Manchester Crown Court she had hit him with a ruler, made him stand on a table, and bitten him when he was `naughty'. She was being paid £120 a week to look after him while his parents worked in a restaurant in Southport.

She said she would tell Hugo off for playing with electrical items and running around.

Asked by defence counsel Mr Anthony Hayden, QC, how she would punish him, she said she would stand him on a table, and tell him off, and if that did not work hit the table with a ruler to scare him. She said she sometimes struck him with a ruler.

Biting

Wong also admitted biting Hugo on the finger and hard on the arm to teach him it was wrong to bite, after he had bitten her. Asked if she thought it was appropriate to bite him, she said: "I can say it was not appropriate. I wanted to teach him."

Wong said on another occasion Hugo had switched on a hairdryer and burned his leg. She put ointment on it but admitted later smacking him on it for playing with the hairdryer.

On the day he died, Hugo had been crying and refusing to eat his food. Wong said she stood him on a coffee table and slapped a plastic strip on the table to scare him into behaving.

She then decided to bathe him but claimed as she washed his hair bubbles appeared from his mouth. She said: "His body went floppy. I was really frightened. He was blinking his eyes and his pupils were rolling. I was saying `please wake up, don't scare me'."

The court was told while Hugo was at hospital she told staff she had made him stand on a table and hit him. Wong said: "I told them two days earlier when Hugo had been naughty I hit him on his lower leg."

Mr Hayden asked her: "Was there any point which you shook Hugo, or threw him on to a soft surface?"

Wong replied: "No, No."

Proceeding.