A little girl who nearly died from stomach injuries told her foster carer she loved her and asked to live with her forever, a court heard.

Four people are on trial at Kingston Crown Court after a four-year-old girl was allegedly hit so hard in the stomach she nearly died and had to be admitted to hospital for emergency surgery.

The girl, from Tooting, was admitted to St George’s Hospital on Monday, March 25, 2013, suffering from serious injuries.

Doctors had to resuscitate her in hospital and carried out several hours of emergency surgery to find out what was wrong, cutting open her abdomen in the process. She spent a month in hospital and was placed into a foster home on release.

The court heard the female carer, who cannot be named for legal reasons, took the girl to her police interview.

Giving evidence on Tuesday, October 14, the fosterer of 20 years told the court about when she took the girl home after her police interview.

She said: "She was holding my neck really tightly and she said '[her mother's ex boyfriend] hurt me'. I said 'oh what happened?'

"She said '[he] hurt me' and she made a fist and pointed to her stomach. She just sort of dug her head into my shoulder."

The carer logged everything the little girl said to her in a diary which was emailed to a social worker.

She recounted another incident after the little girl had jumped down the stairs.

The foster carer tried to explain to her why she should not do that and said: "My voice was loud. I didn't register she was cowering. She was pushing herself into the wall. I looked up and she was whimpering.

"I went down and took her into my arms and said 'look you are all right, I won't hurt you' and that time she said '[he] hurt me'.

"I said [to the girl] you know I will not hurt you.

"She came into my arms and I carried her into the living room. She sat on my lap."

The court heard how the little girl said she liked living with the foster family, told the woman she loved her and asked if she could live with them forever.

The girl continued to see her biological family and returned to the foster family with grazes on both knees and on top of her foot, which she would not let her foster carer tend to, the jury heard.

The court also heard how she found it difficult at times to differentiate between the making things up and what really happened.

The little girl lived in a flat with her mother and her mother’s friend when the alleged incident happened. The ex-boyfriend and the housemate’s boyfriend stayed there at times and were brothers, the court heard.

The mother’s ex-boyfriend denies grievous bodily harm with intent. All four defendants deny causing or allowing the little girl to suffer physical harm. The trial continues.