A BABY who was plunged into a scalding bath by her teenage father lost all the skin on her left foot, a judge was told.

At Gloucester crown court, Ross Simmonds, 19, pleaded guilty to cruelty to his 20-month-old daughter, Chloe, by ill-treatment or neglect.

Together with the baby's mother, Rebecca Jennings, 22, he also admitted a further charge of assaulting, ill-treating, abandoning or exposing the child to danger on the same day.

Jennings was formally found not guilty of a charge of neglecting Chloe by failing to take her to child welfare clinics in May last year when Sue Evans, prosecuting, offered no evidence on that allegation.

Miss Evans told the court the baby was scalded on May 29 last year when Simmonds went to give her a bath at their home in Bullington Road, Sedbury, near Chepstow. "Tests later showed that water from the hot tap came out at 62 degrees centigrade," she said.

"An equal mixture of hot and cold brought the temperature down to 34 degrees. "Simmonds later told police he had been trickling cold water into the bath, and it is estimated the temperature would have been 59 degrees to cause the injury."

Miss Evans added: "It is accepted that the baby's foot was only in the water for a split second." Tim Evans, defending Simmonds, said: "No-one regrets this more than he does. With his partner he is now working with social workers and developing parenting skills. They are in regular contact with Chloe and they are doing very well."

The couple were remanded on bail until a later date for pre-sentence reports to be prepared. Later, a member of the prosecution team said: "The injury was horrific. There was no skin on the baby's foot."