Alexander Graham died in July 2001

Child minder Tina McLeod walked free from court after a murder trial which focused on exactly what happened to the one-year-old child on the morning he was fatally injured.

Alexander Graham's mother, Kirstie, had told the court that the toddler was "smiling, happy and full of energy" when she left him at about 0830 GMT.

Three hours later, he was on a life-support machine at Edinburgh's Royal Hospital for Sick Children after suffering haemorrhages of the brain, spine and eyes.

The machine was turned off by hospital staff the following day and Alexander died.

'Very forcible shaking'

The child minder told police that he must have fallen off a sofa in the lounge of her Edinburgh home while she was out of the room.

She also told officers that she had given him a "wee shake" when she found him because she thought he was holding his breath, jurors were told.

Dr Jean Keeling, who carried out a post-mortem examination on Alexander's body, said in evidence that the toddler's injuries were probably caused by "very forcible shaking".

Under examination by advocate depute Gerald Hanretty QC, the consultant paediatric pathologist added that the baby's injuries were similar to those often seen in road accident victims.

Dr Keeling said she was "positive" that a fall from the arm of the sofa could not have caused the fatal injuries.

Unusual fall

Her view was backed by Professor Jeanne Bell, of Edinburgh's Western General Hospital, who said that Alexander showed "classic" symptoms of so-called shaken baby syndrome.

But the court later heard from Oxford academic Dr Waney Squier, who said that "a very unfortunate and unusual fall" could have caused the injuries to the youngster's spinal cord.

She also said that it was "notoriously difficult" to establish whether the kinds of injuries detected in the post-mortem examination were caused by shaking.

Asked by defence advocate Ruth Anderson QC whether her conclusions tallied with Mrs McLeod's claim that he fell from a sofa, Dr Squier said: "Yes."