A MOTHER arrested on suspicion of harbouring Bolton's most wanted fugitive - who shook her baby so hard that his brain bled - has been given a police caution.

Samantha Harper, aged 22, was arrested with Andrew Rutter, aged 28, after police closed in on the wanted criminal at a home in Angle Street, Tonge Moor, on Wednesday.

Harper was taken into police custody but was not charged.

She received a caution for "assisting an offender by acting with another to impede the apprehension or prosecution" of Rutter.

Rutter, the father of the injured baby, aged 28, of Old Clough Lane, Walkden, went on the run part way through a trial at which he was facing allegations of causing grievous bodily harm to their son, Jacob Rutter-Harper, and wilfully neglecting him by not seeking medical help.

He was at large for a month after Judge Timothy Clayson jailed him for six-and-a-half years in his absence.

Rutter was hauled back before Bolton Crown Court on Thursday to serve the jail term — along with an additional month imprisonment for breaching his bail conditions.

The baby, who was seven months old at the time he was injured in May 13, 2012, is not thought to have been left with long-term symptoms from his injuries, but suffered a subdural haematoma at the time.

Rutter’s partner, Harper, was cleared of child neglect after the prosecution discontinued the case.


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