A couple accused of cruelty to a four-year-old boy were considering dropping plans to adopt him before he died, a court heard.

Simon McWilliam told Lewes Crown Court: "It was in my mind we could not give him what he needed. We could not make him a totally happy boy."

McWilliam and his wife Michelle, of Gardner Road, Fishersgate, Southwick, who deny cruelty, had taken in John Smith six months before the boy's death in 1999 and were in the process of adoption.

John died of a brain haemorrhage and was covered in bruises but the couple said he was a self-harmer.

McWilliam said John was a happy and loving boy when he got his own way but he would make himself sick and attack Michelle when he didn't.

He expressed doubts about adoption to a social worker two weeks before the boy's death.

That night, John hit Michelle, splitting her lip and bruising her arm, he said.

McWilliam insisted he cared for John but there were times when he did not enjoy being his father.

Cross-examined by Camden Pratt QC, McWilliam was shown a diagram showing bruises on John's face seen by a social worker in the month before his death.

McWilliam said his wife told him the boy had deliberately banged his face on a chair but he could not remember seeing specific injuries.

Forensic dentist Professor David Whitaker said bite marks found on the boy's body were inconclusive.

One on the upper thigh was more likely to have been from McWilliam than his wife but could have been from any number of people.

He could not rule out the possibility that a second, close by, was from Michelle but again it was inconclusive.

A third bite on a forearm could have been self-inflicted but he accepted there was a chance it had been caused by someone else.

Another expert testified the mark was more likely to have been from Mr McWilliam than his wife but Prof Whitaker could not make the same match. The trial continues.