Man accused of murdering toddler 'caught hiding crack cocaine' after arrest
A drug user accused of murdering his partner's three-year-old son has convictions for common assault, burglary and possession of heroin with intent to supply, a jury has heard.
The trial of Nathaniel Pope, who denies any part in the death of Kemarni Watson Darby, was told a "rock" of crack cocaine was found hidden between the 32-year-old's buttocks when he was arrested last March.
Prosecutors allege Kemarni suffered fatal abdominal injuries in June 2018 during an assault at the flat where he lived with Pope and his mother Alicia Watson in West Bromwich.
Watson, 30, of Raglan Road, Handsworth, and Pope, of Evans Street, Wolverhampton, deny murder and child cruelty charges.
Giving a second day of evidence at Birmingham Crown Court on Tuesday, Pope conceded he had "just told some of the truth" about himself in evidence heard last week.
Under cross-examination by Watson's QC, Charles Sherrard, Pope denied he had lied to a court before being found guilty of burglary and sentenced in 2011.
During his questioning, Mr Sherrard told the court Pope had been sentenced to four months' imprisonment for common assault in May 2011, 12 months for burglary in September 2011, and 20 months for possessing heroin with intent to supply in July 2013.
Mr Sherrard also told jurors that drugs were found on Pope in March 2021 when he was "ultimately arrested at the point of being charged" with Kemarni's murder.
The QC said of the March 15 arrest: "On the journey to Oldbury Custody Suite and on arrival at Oldbury Custody Suite you were asked by police officers several times if you had anything secreted on your person that you needed to present to them.
"Each time you said to them 'no'. The custody suite police officers were authorised to conduct a strip search of you.
"Two police officers then took you into a room and asked again if you had any drugs secreted on your person. Once again, you said 'no'.
"A rock of 9.16 grammes of crack cocaine was found in a white tissue secreted between your buttocks."
After the judge told jurors it was for them to determine whether the previous convictions were relevant to the case, Mr Sherrard asked Pope about his evidence last week that he was "merely a recreational user of cannabis".
Mr Sherrard asked: "(In) 2013 you're a dealer of heroin and in 2021 it's crack cocaine. Are you saying that in between we should read into it there would have been nothing of the sort?"
Pope answered: "There was nothing of the sort."
The defendant further denied claims that he was "deceitful and devious" and was "not the person he had presented to the jury".
The trial continues.
