The defence case in the trial of a man accused of murdering his five-year-old daughter, who died after being trapped underwater in a freezing river in Worcestershire, is due to begin.

Birmingham Crown Court has heard that Gabrielle Grady spent two hours submerged in the River Avon in Evesham, stuck in her father's car after he drove into the water on February 11 last year. She died three days later.

Christopher Grady, 42, denies her murder and the attempted murder of his then six-year-old son Ryan Grady, who was on the back seat of the car when it began to sink but was rescued from the water by police divers.

Timothy Raggatt QC will open the case for the defence on Friday morning.