The mother of a toddler found dead in her bed denied during a police interview that she killed her three-year-old daughter, a court has heard.

Lesley Dunford told officers at Hastings police station in May 2004 that she had never struggled as a mother and she had no reason to kill her daughter.

The 33-year-old is accused of murdering Lucy Dunford by smothering her in her bed at the family home in Pelwood Road, Camber, near Rye, on February 2, 2004.

During a police interview on May 7, when Dunford was asked in the presence of a solicitor and an appropriate adult whether she killed her daughter, she replied: "I did not kill her. I have no reason to kill."

She told officers she had never suffered with depression and did not feel that she had a mental illness, and added: "So no, I do not believe I killed her."

A jury at Lewes Crown Court heard that Dunford did not try to resuscitate her daughter when she found her because she was too frightened to touch her.

The jurors were shown two hours of police interview DVDs in which Dunford described what happened when she discovered Lucy was not breathing at about 3pm on February 2.

She said: "I knew that she was not breathing and if we did not do something soon there would not have been a hope in hell of being able to save her.

"I felt being her mother, I thought I should be able to do resuscitation on her, but I was absolutely petrified. I was afraid to touch her.

"I just went into shock. I just did not know what to do first."

The court heard that Dunford phoned a friend, the Reverend Lucy Murdoch, who told her to call an ambulance immediately and told her she would be there in two minutes.

When Rev Murdoch arrived she began resuscitation and Dunford went across the road and called on a neighbour who also came over to help, the jury was told.

Dunford told police that when she had gone into Lucy's room she noticed a strong smell which filled the room, and when she pulled the duvet back there was a wet patch on the bed, the court heard.

She said the only injury she noticed on her daughter's body was a rash on her face once they got to the hospital, and that staff told her it would have been caused by adrenaline being pumped into her body while she was being resuscitated.

She also said her daughter had a cut above her left eye and a mark on the end of her nose but that she did not know how they got there, the court was told.

She said: "I never noticed any bruises around her neck or anything. Anything like that, if they were that big, I would have noticed them but I did not and neither did Lucy Murdoch."

During a second police interview on May 7, officers pointed out a number of discrepancies in Dunford's account of what happened on the day her daughter died, compared with an interview she had given to police in February 2004, the court heard.

Dunford originally told police her daughter was fine when she put her to bed but in May she said the toddler had appeared pale, felt as though she was getting a temperature and that she was worried it could be the onset of meningitis, the jury was told.

She also could not remember in which order she had made phone calls to the vicar, her husband Wayne and the emergency services, the court heard.

She said she pulled the duvet back on finding her daughter unconscious to check her pulse, something she omitted from her original police interview, the court was told.

Dunford said that when she made the 999 call she told the operator that she thought her daughter had suffered a fit because that was her "gut instinct".

She said that Lucy had a cut above her left eye, was not breathing, was as stiff as a board and that she could not find a pulse.

Dunford told police her account was different in February because her daughter had died 48 hours previously and she was not thinking straight at the time, the court heard.

Dunford, of Rydal Mews, Windermere Close, Exeter, denies murder.

The jury was told that the bedsheet and Lucy's clothes were examined following her death but no urine or faeces was found on either.

But bloodstains were found on her cardigan, top and the vest she was wearing, the court heard.

Phone records also showed that Dunford had called her husband at 3.11pm and an ambulance at 3.20pm on February 2.

An inquest into Lucy's death was held in February 2009 but the coroner adjourned the hearing so that consideration could be given to further evidence which had come to light, the court was told.

Dunford was arrested at her home in Exeter, Devon, at 7.15am on July 12 last year by Detective Constable Janice Dempsey, of Sussex Police, and she was taken to the custody centre in Brighton.

Ms Dempsey said she sat Dunford down in the living room and explained the situation to her before arresting her on suspicion of her daughter's murder, the court heard.

A statement given by Ms Dempsey, which was read to the jury, said that Mr Dunford was nearby and had heard everything.

She said Lesley started to cry and said she could not travel on her own, and asked if her husband could come with her because travelling made her sick.

She said Mr Dunford comforted his wife and said: "We have been expecting this. We knew this was coming. It has been a long time."

Ms Dempsey said: "I followed her (Dunford) into the bedroom and as she was getting dressed she said: 'I have been waiting for this to happen'."

The case was adjourned until 10.30am today.