Baby in broken bones inquiry dies

Hospital staff are supporting the boy's family

A three-month-old baby at the centre of a police investigation at London's Great Ormond Street Hospital has died.

The inquiry began when the boy from Clacton, Essex, was found to have fractures to his leg, ankles and feet.

The hospital said the results of the inquiry are due in several weeks and it anticipates no members of staff will be found to have acted incorrectly.

A hospital spokesman said the boy was born with a complex mixture of life-threatening conditions.

Police guard

He added: "The child has succumbed to his medical condition and we are trying to support the family at this difficult time.

"We are confident that the investigation will show that all staff acted correctly at all times."

A spokesman for the Met police said the child's death does not affect the inquiry, which is still ongoing.

Police had earlier said medical equipment may have been "tampered" with, and placed the child under guard and interviewed hospital staff.

But the hospital responded saying if his bones were "unusually weak", normal handling could have caused the fractures.

In a statement released in February, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Trust said it was unlikely the baby had a "classic" bone disease, but other rare illnesses were being considered.

The statement said: "If the bones are unusually weak, which could be the result of several causes, then it would be possible for them to be broken through normal careful handling of the child."