She received first aid from the paramedics before being taken to the University Hospital of Wales, where she died in the early hours of May 29.

Paul Lewis prosecuting said Mr Scully-Hicks had "assaulted, abused and ultimately murdered" the little girl, who ought to have been safe in his care.

He said: "We allege that his attack on her on that day was not the first time that he had employed violence towards Elsie, nor was it the first time that he had caused her serious injury.

"We allege that his actions on the late afternoon or evening of May 25 were the tragic culmination of a course of violence conduct on his part towards a defenceless child - an infant that he should have loved and protected, but whom he instead assaulted, abused and ultimately murdered."

Medical tests found that Elsie suffered bleeding on both sides of the brain, had several broken ribs, a fractured left femur and a fractured skull.

The court was told that Mr Scully-Hicks met his husband while living in Swindon, Wiltshire, in 2006 and the couple moved to Cardiff around five years later.

They married in Portugal in August 2012 and applied to become adopters later that year.