A critically injured 10-month-old girl, who was allegedly slammed into her cot by her mother’s partner on Friday, is now in a stable condition after having an operation on Sunday.

A 27-year-old man, who cannot be named by court order, stands charged with her attempted murder.

Sources said he was on his bed at about 5am when he took the baby out of a cot next to the bed. He shook her and put her back down into the cot forcefully, hitting her head on its wooden railing as he did so.

The baby suffered a fractured skull, the sources said, as well as having a pre-existing fracture to her left leg and several bruises when she was taken into hospital on Friday morning in critical condition.

Defendant allegedly hit her head on the wooden railing of a cot as he put her down forcefully

Medical staff informed the police about the girl, who needed an operation on her head. She was yesterday said to be in a stable condition.

The incident happened at a Ħamrun residence shared by the man, who is not the baby’s father, and his partner, the girl’s 24-year-old mother.

The woman, who was born in Romania but lives in Malta, was charged with neglect of the baby and her two other children, both boys under 12, and with being in possession of cocaine and cannabis.

Sources have said the children were living in dirty conditions and had been placed under a care order.

In a separate sitting on Sunday, the mother’s partner, who is from Żabbar, was charged with the attempted murder of the baby, neglect of the children and with being in possession of the same two drugs.

Both pleaded not guilty to the charges and the man was remanded in custody while the woman was granted bail against a personal guarantee of €10,000 on the condition that she does not contact potential witnesses, including the children themselves.

A probation officer was also appointed by court to follow her up and test her for any illegal substances.