A SCHOOLBOY has walked free from court after being cleared of causing the death of a six month old baby he was looking after.

The 15-year-old boy from Chorley was charged with the manslaughter of baby Calum Bryan who died in July last year.

But when he appeared for trial at Preston Crown Court, the prosecution offered no evidence against him and a not guilty verdict was recorded.

Graham Morrow QC, prosecuting, told the court that Calum had died on July 31 last year and a pathologist found the cause of death to be head injuries due to shaking, coupled with bronchial pneumonia.

The defendant, who was aged 14 at the time, and who cannot be named for legal reasons, was interviewed by the police but denied he had been responsible for shaking the baby while looking after him.

However, last month, the boy confessed to a relative that he had shaken the baby when he began turning blue following a feed.

Mr Morrow said that Calum, from Clayton Brook near Chorley, was not a well baby, having been born 13 weeks premature.

He told the court that it appeared that the defendant had "tried to shake the life back into the baby" when he turned blue and had panicked in a difficult situation.

The judge, Mr Justice Douglas Brown, recorded a not guilty verdict.

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