Mum to be cleared of baby murder

Wendy Johnston is to be formally cleared on Thursday

A County Fermanagh woman accused of murdering her newborn son is to be cleared of the charge.

Wendy Johnston, 34, from Spruce Hill in Irvinestown, had been accused of strangling her baby boy last February.

She had given birth to him on her living room sofa. At Dungannon Crown Court, the prosecution said it was no longer offering evidence against her.

It followed a last-minute review of the the evidence in the case. Ms Johnston is still in prison.

The court heard that a top paediatrician was asked by the defence to look again at one of the medical reports, and as a result of his comments - the prosecution reviewed all of the evidence in the case.

Ms Johnston will not be formally cleared until a jury is sworn in on Thursday and directed by the judge to return a "not guilty" verdict.

At the hearing, Brian Curran of the Public Prosecution Service told the court there had been an exchange of a number of medical reports between the prosecution and defence.

He said the latest medical report was only received on Tuesday.

"I had consultations yesterday afternoon at 4.30 (1630 GMT) with Dr Ingram (prosecution pathologist) and at that stage all of the medical evidence was reviewed in relation to this case," he said.

"As a consequence of that review, the decision has been taken to offer no evidence against this accused," Mr Curran told Mr Justice Hart.