Police cleared in baby death case

Aaron Gilbert had suffered 50 injuries from head to foot

A police force has been cleared over its handling of a man who went on to murder his partner's 13-month-old son.

Aaron Gilbert's father Gareth made formal complaints about events prior to his son's death and the information he received before Andrew Lloyd's trial.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPPC) has ruled South Wales Police "acted correctly."

Lloyd was jailed for a minimum of 24 years and Aaron's mother Rebecca Lewis for six years.

Mr Gilbert complained police failed to work fully with other agencies prior to his son's murder and also that Lloyd's details were not put into the police national computer (PNC).

He was also upset about what he said was a lack of information made available to him before the trial.

Lloyd, 23, from Swansea, was jailed for a minimum of 24 years after admitting murdering Aaron, who died from brain damage in May 2005. He had suffered 50 injuries.

Swansea Crown Court heard Aaron had been so badly beaten by his mother's boyfriend he looked "like the Elephant Man".

When Lewis was found guilty of familial homicide for failing to protect her son, she became one of the first in the UK to be convicted of the new offence which had become law in May 2005.

Andrew Lloyd and Rebecca Lewis were jailed in December 2006

IPCC Commissioner for Wales Tom Davies said: "Our investigator met with Mr Gilbert to explain to him in detail the outcome of our investigation.

"We have concluded that the police acted correctly based on the information available to them at the time.

"Our investigation found that the murder investigation had made a policy decision that certain information had to be withheld from Mr Gilbert because he was a trial witness - it was important that his evidence was not tainted by knowledge from the murder investigation prior to the trial.

"When we investigated the complaint about the information entered on the PNC we found that this was the responsibility of one of the other agencies.

"The police examined the requirements for initiating a multi-agency conference but because of the information known to them at the time the incident did not meet the requirements for this.

"The IPCC found that where the police were required to act they did so appropriately."

Last year the Court of Appeal, which heard Lloyd treated Aaron "like a punchbag", rejected his application for leave to appeal against his jail sentence.