'Mauled baby' mother cleared

The baby's injuries were felt to be the result of a "prolonged attack"

A teenage mother whose baby was mauled by a pet ferret has been cleared of neglecting the child.

The boy, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, has been scarred for life after suffering multiple puncture wounds to his face, hands and arms.

His 19-year-old mother had denied cruelty to a person under 16, namely the wilful neglect of her son on 10 January this year.

A jury at Canterbury Crown Court took three-and-a-half hours to find her not guilty.

Baby was whimpering

The court had heard how paramedics called to a flat in Herne Bay, Kent, found the distressed mother cradling a bitten and scratched baby.

Michael O'Sullivan, prosecuting, told the court the nine-month-old boy's injuries were felt by hospital staff to be the result of a "significant and prolonged attack".

The mother had told the court she had closed the bedroom door as tightly as possible when she put her baby, who was whimpering, to bed at 2315 GMT on 10 January.

But 15 minutes later she had noticed a change in the intensity of her son's crying.

When she went to check on him, after eating a slice of pizza, she found him on his hands and knees crying with the ferret near the cot.

Mr O'Sullivan said the mother had told police she loved her son and had made a mistake by not putting the ferret away in its cage in the bathroom.