British father accused of shaking baby son to death walks free
A British father accused of killing his baby son by shaking him walked free from the Old Bailey today as a judge said he was "extremely troubled" by the case.
Matthew Addy was alleged to have inflicted the fatal injuries to the "bright and healthy" boy after finding the responsibilities of fatherhood "daunting".
But prosecutors dropped a manslaughter charge against the 29-year-old after his former partner, the baby's mother Nicole Pullen, gave evidence at the trial.
Judge Anthony Morris said he had formed an "adverse view" of the witness and added: "I was extremely troubled about the case being brought before me and how it was developing."
Jurors heard that Scott Addy, who was less than three months old, died in December 2003, nine days after suffering brain injuries.
Just hours before he was taken ill, video footage of the baby had shown him to be "fine and healthy", said Richard Whittam QC, prosecuting.
Mr Whittam said: "He sustained a serious head injury consistent with either a shaking or a shaking impact injury, which caused his death."
Addy, at the time a 22-year-old greenkeeper at Walton Heath golf club in Surrey, and his fiancee Ms Pullen, who was then an 18-year-old student, were both arrested as their baby fought for life in hospital.
The couple, who lived in Sutton, Surrey, were later told they would not face any charges but the case was then reviewed and Addy was arrested again in 2009.
It was alleged that it must have been Addy who had inflicted the "non-accidental" injuries which led to his son being taken to hospital in the early hours of December 1 2003 and dying nine days later.
The judge today made clear his view that the baby had been "unlawfully killed". Scott was also found to have suffered rib injuries some weeks before.
But the case collapsed after the child's mother gave evidence and repeatedly said she could not remember much of what happened.
The witness, who now uses the name Nicole Fox, wept as she described her baby as being a "happy, very happy" child and denied that she had done anything to him.
But when David Etherington QC, defending, asked her whether she had "any mental picture of what was going on that evening at all", she replied: "No."
After her evidence last week, the jury was discharged today, before prosecutors formally offered no evidence and the judge entered a not guilty verdict.
