Jailed babysitter wins retrial over death

By Andrew Hough

LONDON (Reuters) - A babysitter jailed for life three years ago for murdering her neighbour's two-year-old son by battering his head against a banister will be retried, three judges ruled on Thursday.

The conviction of Suzanne Holdsworth, 37, was quashed by the Court of Appeal in the light of new medical evidence.

Holdsworth had denied murdering Kyle Fisher at her home in Hartlepool in July 2004.

On Thursday, the appeal judges, led by Lord Justice Roger Toulson, accepted defence arguments that prosecution medical evidence had been potentially misleading.

Her legal team told the court the boy's death was possibly caused by an epileptic seizure triggered by a previous eye injury.

The judges said that in the interests of justice, the fresh medical evidence had to be considered before a new jury.

"We do not consider that we can safely dismiss the medical scenario advanced on (Holdsworth's) behalf as definitely incredible," they said.

Outside court her lawyer, Campbell Malone, told reporters his client had been overwhelmed when told of the decision in jail.