Babysitter cleared of boy's killing

A jury at Teesside Crown Court acquitted Ms Holdsworth, 38, of Boggart Seacroft, Leeds, of murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter following a re-trial.

The mother-of-two was originally convicted of the two-year-old's murder in March 2005 and jailed for life but the Court of Appeal overturned her conviction after doubts were raised about medical evidence presented in the first trial.

During the re-trial the jury was given the stark choice of deciding whether Ms Holdsworth or Kyle's mother, Clare Fisher, 24, caused the severe head injuries.

During Ms Holdsworth's original trial she was accused of repeatedly banging Kyle's head against a wooden bannister with as much force as a 60mph crash, after losing her temper.

However, doubts were first raised about her conviction by journalist John Sweeney in a report for BBC Newsnight. The programme interviewed leading neuro-pathologist Dr Wainey Squier who later gave evidence for the defence in the re-trial. She said it was "unlikely" Kyle had suffered a massive blow to the head.

In May the Court of Appeal overturned Ms Holdsworth's conviction after ruling it "unsafe" and ordered a re-trial. The jury heard that the doctors who gave evidence at trial "got it wrong" and "collectively failed to diagnose" that Kyle had a "highly unusual brain", with abnormalities which predisposed him to epilepsy.

Speaking outside court, Keith Simpson, of the Crown Prosecution Service in Cleveland, said: "I am entirely satisfied that the Crown Prosecution Service and the police were wholly right in bringing this case to court for a second time."

After the case, Cleveland Police said they would not be reopening the investigation into Kyle's death.

Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Braithwaite said: "The jury have properly done their job and have acquitted Suzanne Holdsworth. It is not our intention to reopen investigations into Kyle's tragic death."