Updated at 1.35pm: An Indonesian helper accused of shaking a toddler in her care to death went free on Thursday after a judge directed a jury to acquit her in the light of conflicting medical evidence.
Sumarti Sugandi, 26, was all smiles as she left the High Court where she had been on trial for manslaughter. She had pleaded not guilty.
Two-year-old Chan Tsz-ying died of head injuries on November 30 1999.
Mr Justice Colin Jackson told the seven-member jury that they must acquit Sugandi as the prosecution had not proved that she intentionally and unlawfully did an act which caused death.
''On the evidence before you, the prosecution simply cannot do that,'' Mr Justice Colin Jackson said.
Doctors who had treated Tsz-ying, and a child care expert, suspected she had been a victim of the shaken-baby syndrome. But pathologist Dr Wong Hon-man, who performed the autopsy, differed in that he said the possibility of shaken-baby syndrome ''cannot be totally excluded''.
