The father of tragic toddler Lia Green appeared in court charged with her murder.
Flanked by security guards, Richard Green spoke only to confirm his name as he stood in the secure dock at Preston Magistrates Court.
Wearing a grey striped T-shirt, 22-year-old Green shifted his glance between the magistrates and the public gallery, where members of his family sat.
Lia’s grandma sobbed throughout the five minute hearing as Green faced charges of murder and causing or allowing the death of a child on or between August 28 and 30 this year.
Lia’s mother did not attend court for the hearing.
Paulo Passerini, defending, told the court Green, of Harling Road, Preston, “strongly denies” the allegations placed before him.
Magistrates said the case could only be dealt with in the Crown Court and committed Green to appear in Preston on Friday.
Security guards handcuffed the father and led him to custody where he will remain until his next court appearance.
Three-year-old Lia died from “extensive internal injuries” after feeling unwell on August 30.
She was taken by paramedics to Royal Preston Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival.
The toddler, from Norris Street, Plungington, was laid to rest in a funeral service at English Martys Church, Preston, where she made her final journey in a horse drawn carriage.
Lia’s tiny pink coffin was taken inside the church, where members of the congregation dressed in pink.