Court hears of violence against Tanilla A MAN accused of killing his girlfriend's child had a history of violence against the two-year-old, a Sydney court has heard. Warren Ross is accused of murdering Tanilla Warrick Deaves on August 25, 2011, at a house in Watanobbi on the NSW Central Coast. Opening the trial, crown prosecutor Erik Balodis said neighbours and nearby residents had witnessed and heard the violence against Tanilla. One visitor to the house was told by Ross that he tried to discipline the child by hitting her with an extension cord, a wooden spoon and making her run laps around the house. "She just doesn't learn," Ross allegedly told the man. A woman saw Ross slap Tanilla so hard that she flew through the air on a Central Coast street, Mr Balodis said. Two days before Tanilla died in Wyong hospital, Ross had become angry because the child had failed to keep chickens in the cage and he kicked and hit her. Tanilla had to run laps around the living room and may have wet herself at this time, the court heard. Ross, who had tried to toilet train the child in the two months he had lived with the family, was enraged. Neighbours heard a male screaming and Ross picked up a cord and hit her across the back. The child was later put in the shower by her mother, the court heard. It's claimed the accused also held Tanilla from one leg upside down and proceeded to assault Tanilla and threaten her mother. The two-year-old spent the last two days of her life lying in a pram, bruised and battered until an ambulance was finally called, the crown will allege. Defence barrister Sarah McNaughton SC told the jury in her opening statement that "this will be a difficult trial for everyone in this courtroom."