A DISGUSTING dad battered his six-month-old daughter to death on Christmas Eve after flying into a drunken rage, a court heard.
Lee Parker was left alone with baby Aya, while her mum Zofia Kucharczyk went out for a festive meal on December 24, 2016.
The pair met online and conceived their daughter on the first weekend they spent together.
Despite their romance ending they decided to live together to raise the child.
On Christmas Eve the pair shared a glass of sparkling wine before Zofia went out to enjoy herself with her new man, leaving the teething baby with Parker.
But after knocking back two bottles of red wine and a third of a bottle of vodka, the 33-year-old killed Aya by battering her against a bathroom door.
At 6pm the defendant had snapped a selfie of him holding the sleeping baby against his chest.
But in a matter of hours she was found dying, bleeding from the mouth and ears after suffering a devastating brain injury.
Paramedics tried to save the baby but she was pronounced dead at 2am.
Parker insisted he had no memory of the brutal attack but admitted murder when he appeared at Bristol Crown Court on the first day of his trial.
Prosecutor Richard Smith said: “Zofia told police that she thought the defendant was a proud father on arrival of their baby daughter, she said she thought this was a man who loved his daughter.
“She confirmed the defendant had helped with the day to day care of their baby girl.
“Up until that night Zofia had no cause for concern about her former partner, or behaviour which fitted with what took place on Christmas Eve.”
He had told Zofia he would be taking the two bottles of red wine and a bottle of vodka round to a friend’s house to drink on Christmas Day, but started drinking alone.
Parker had turned to drink and drugs after the death of his parents, had used cocaine and cannabis in the 24 hours before the attack.
Mr Smith said: “A man effected by drink and drugs may not have been well placed emotionally, perhaps physically, to deal with the tantrums, if tantrums they were, of a six-month-old baby – this was a baby who was teething at the time.
“That level of intoxication may make one less patient, less tolerant, less able to control one’s temper.”
Mr Smith said: “When police seized his mobile phone they found a series of photos still on it, the child was apparently content, asleep on the defendant’s own chest.
“The only marks on her face were a teething mark.”
But when paramedics arrived at 1.09am after Parker dialled 999, they discovered Aya with bruising around her face and blood seeping from her eyes and ears.
Her skull was fractured so severely it caused fatal brain injuries, but a post-mortem examination revealed her jaw had been broken between two hours and four hours earlier.
Parker refused to explain how his daughter came to have such severe injuries a claimed to have woken up and found her in the rocking chair where she was sleeping, with the injuries somehow inflicted.
He gave ‘no comment’ interviews to police and continued to deny murder until the day of trial.
Mr Smith said: “We will never know why the defendant lost his temper. This was a baby who was teething, perhaps she was restless and sleepless.
“Once he had inflicted a fractured jaw, one would expect her to feel more restless.”
Parker will be sentenced at Bristol Crown Court tomorrow.