A child was beaten to death in a Catford park by his mother’s boyfriend who flew into a rage after the child lost one of his shoes, a court heard.

Marvyn Iheanacho, 39, is accused of causing five-year-old Alex Malcolm fatal head and stomach injuries during a violent assault on the evening of November 20 last year.

Witnesses heard a "child's fearful voice saying 'sorry'", loud banging, and a man screaming about the loss of a trainer, jurors were told.

Prosecutors say the banging could have been from "repeated assaults" on Alex in Mountsfield Park in Catford.

Iheanacho, from of Wesley Avenue in Hounslow, is standing trial at Woolwich Crown Court, where he denies murdering the boy.

A jury of seven men and five women heard he was in a relationship with Alex's mother Lilya Breha and would often stay at her flat in Catford.

CCTV captured Iheanacho taking Alex from his home, on three separate buses, to the park, where they arrived at around 5.12pm, when it was already dark.

Eleanor Laws QC, prosecutor, told jurors there are no witnesses or CCTV footage of “the defendant landing blows on Alex”, but said: “There is, however, clear evidence as to the fact the defendant lost his temper with Alex before he sustained his injuries.”

She said prosecutors know the pair went to the play area because Alex lost one of his trainers, which was later found there by police.

Describing an incident at about 6pm, she added: "The defendant was heard shouting loudly at Alex after finding out that Alex had lost his shoe."

One witness, Sarah Strugnell, allegedly saw Iheanacho bend down to the child and ask where his shoes were.

Ms Laws said: “Her partner recalls hearing the loud banging and a male voice screaming about the loss of shoes and a child's fearful voice saying 'sorry'.”

The court heard Iheanacho carried Alex unconscious "as if he were a baby" to a minicab office, from where he was taken back to Ms Breha's flat at about 7pm, while the nearest hospital was just a five-minute walk away.

He told Alex's mother her son fell to his knees and hit his head and that he slapped him to try to wake him up, jurors heard.

Ms Laws said Iheanacho attacked a screaming Ms Breha after she called him a "danger to her family" and stopped her from calling an ambulance.

But she grabbed the phone after noticing her son was getting cold, his face had turned blue and he had stopped breathing.

The court heard Iheanacho told one paramedic Alex had fallen onto his knees and hit his head on the floor, but told others he had fallen from a climbing frame.

Doctors at Lewisham Hospital tried to resuscitate Alex, but a CT scan revealed he was suffering from severe brain swelling, and he was transferred to King's College Hospital.

But an operation was unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at 3.19pm on November 22 last year.

A post-mortem revealed bruises on Alex's head, neck, and body, while a pathologist concluded the combination of impact type head injury and blunt trauma to the abdomen was "consistent with inflicted injury".

Iheanacho denies the charges. The case continues.