Forensic pathologist Dr Allan Cala told a Newcastle Supreme Court jury on Tuesday he was given an account of what had supposedly happened to the toddler before he performed an autopsy.

Questioned by crown prosecutor Lee Carr SC, Dr Cala agreed he had been told the toddler's mother and her then partner, Timothy Andrew Whiteley, claimed they heard a loud thud come from the toddler's room just after 11am on June 19, 2018, at their home in the Hunter region.

The couple said they found the toddler on the ground with injuries to her face, and suspected they were caused by her falling to the floor and possibly hitting an object.

But when Dr Cala first examined the toddler he found she had suffered 13 separate injuries to her head and neck area.

Whiteley, 28, who is on trial for murder, denies causing her injuries or attacking her.

Mr Carr told the jury the crown case against Whiteley was that he had been the only person in the room when the girl was attacked.

He said the toddler, who cannot be named, died after suffering a number of blows or kicks to the body.

The toddler died from multiple injuries, including bleeding to the brain, broken ribs, a collapsed lung, lacerations to her liver and bleeding in her abdominal cavity.

Dr Cala told the court on Tuesday he was informed the couple claimed the toddler was left to rest on a fold-out lounge over the next few hours after the fall.

The toddler was carried out to a car some time after 3pm when her mother went to pick up another daughter from pre-school.

Mr Carr told the jury the girl appeared on CCTV footage to be "floppy".

After returning home, the mother and Whiteley claimed they were outside having a cigarette at about 4pm when alerted to the toddler's deteriorating condition.

The couple went inside and noticed the toddler wasn't breathing and called an ambulance.

Paramedics attempted to save the girl but she was pronounced dead at 6.03pm at John Hunter Hospital.

According to the crown case, Whiteley and the girl's mother were the only adults inside the house with the toddler when there was a "thud-type bang" just before 12.20pm.

Mr Carr said the bang was heard by one of Whiteley's workmates who had been visiting and was sitting on the back verandah.

He said the toddler was carried from the bedroom area soon after in a clearly distressed state, unconscious and not responding.

An ambulance was not called until 4.59pm.

The trial before Justice Stephen Rothman continues.

Australian Associated Press

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