Men cleared over boy's boat death

A judge in the Bahamas has cleared three men of killing a British toddler who was hit by a speedboat as he slept on a beach.

The parents of two-year-old Paul Gallagher, from Orpington, south-east London, reacted angrily after Judge Elliot Lockhart dismissed the case.

Paul died from massive head injuries after the boat mounted the beach at a resort in August 2002.

The boat's driver and owners had been accused of manslaughter by negligence.

A jury of six women and three men cleared driver James Bain and owners Clifford Nottage and Evangeless Williamson after the judge ruled there was no case to answer.

'Lost control'

Mr Bain had testified at his trial that he "lost control" of the vessel that mounted the beach and hit the sleeping boy.

The trial was held at the Supreme Court in Nassau.

Lawyers for the three men made the case to the court that the death was the result of a tragic accident and that the accused had not behaved recklessly.

Outside court, the toddler's father, Paul Gallagher, 43, had to be held back by his wife Andrea's brother as he lunged towards the three men.

Both the toddler's father and uncle then started shouting at the boat's driver and its owners as they were moved away by court officials.

The British High Commissioner also helped separate the boy's family from the defendants.

The toddler's mother, 41, left in tears, but did not confront the defendants.

While an inquest in the Bahamas in June 2003 recorded a verdict of accidental death, a British coroner recorded an open verdict at a second inquest the following year and the young boy's parents pleaded with him to order further investigations.