The neighbour of a two-year-old girl allegedly murdered by her mother's boyfriend has told a Sydney court he heard the man whipping a child for more than half an hour.
Paul Coker told the Supreme Court on Thursday he heard Warren Ross whipping a "little child" with what sounded like a belt for 30 to 35 minutes in August 2011 as the child screamed continuously.
"Every time he was scolding the child for pottying around the house (soiling themselves), I could hear the whipping and the screaming," Mr Coker, who lived next door at the time, said.
Ross has pleaded not guilty to murdering his girlfriend Donna Deaves' two-year-old daughter, Tanilla Warrick-Deaves, at her NSW Central Coast home on August 25, 2011.
Ross allegedly abused Tanilla in the weeks leading up to her death as he attempted to toilet train the toddler, including making her run laps of the living room, whipping her and hitting her.
Mr Coker said he heard Ross yelling, "You poo in the toilet. You sit there. You don't move", during the whipping.
It only ended about 35 minutes later after Donna Deaves yelled out "enough", the court heard.
Mr Coker said he later heard Ross tell Deaves, "the child has s**t all through the house and I can't take this anymore".
Mr Coker said he never saw Deaves hit Tanilla while she was living next door.
Tanilla died in Wyong Hospital after an ambulance was finally called two days after she was injured, the court has heard.
The Crown alleges Ross beat her, made her run laps and held her over the toilet bowl by one leg before causing her to hit her head off a door.
Deaves has been sentenced over the incident and is expected to give evidence during the trial.
It continues before Justice Stephen Rothman.
