Middlesbrough Police: How did Kyle die?

Kyle Fisher left.

(Cleveland Police need investigating urgently)

Published Date:

19 December 2008

By Marissa Carruthers

The devoted dad of tragic tot Kyle Fisher is demanding the police investigation into his death is re-opened.

A jury yesterday cleared babysitter Suzanne Holdsworth of killing two-year-old Kyle, from Houghton, after she was accused of flying into a fit of rage and repeatedly banging his head against a wooden banister with as much force as a 60mph crash.

Ms Holdsworth, 38, of Boggart Hill Drive, Leeds, appeared at Teesside Crown Court, accused of murder and an alternative charge of manslaughter after a retrial.

But after almost three weeks in court, a jury yesterday acquitted Ms Holdsworth of the charges, and Cleveland Police say they have no plans to reopen the case.

John Sweeney call with Suzanne Holdsworth in

prison, a very sad call.

Today Kyle's distraught dad, Jon Taylor, of Houghton, demanded answers and a further probe into the death of his son, who he knows as Kyle Jon David Taylor.

He said: "I was never 100 per cent certain Suzanne did it. It's taken four years to get to this."

"It's been hard for the last four years and all I want now is to find out how he died.

"I want to know the truth, I'm sick of it all.

"There's no resolution for me as to what happened, and that's what I want."

Ms Holdsworth was accused of killing Kyle, of Houghton, at her home, then in Millpool Close, Hartlepool, as she looked after him while his mum, Clare Fisher, went to a karaoke night on July 21, 2004.

It was also claimed Ms Holdsworth assaulted Kyle the previous night when she looked after him while his mum went to the cinema.

But Ms Holdsworth, a former supermarket worker, argued Kyle suddenly "went floppy", started hitting himself and was drifting in and out of consciousness while they were watching TV on the sofa.

He was taken to Hartlepool's University Hospital and was later transferred to Newcastle General Hospital where he was put on a ventilator, but was later taken off after it became clear he was brain dead.

During the retrial, the jury heard from two medical experts who said an epileptic fit was most likely to have been the cause of death.

But the court also heard baby Kyle had bruising and marks to his head.

Ms Holdsworth's defence blamed Kyle's mum, claiming they were inflicted the previous day and, coupled with his brain abnormalities, led to the deadly fit.

The court heard Miss Fisher was suffering from depression at the time and was unable to cope with the demands of bringing up a toddler.

Her house was untidy, neighbours complained of loud music at night, and days before Kyle died, she "mistreated" him by leaving him home alone while out with friends.

Andrew Thomas QC, defending, said: "It is Clare Fisher who is the credible candidate for attacking Kyle in this case."

Kyle: 'Police must apologise for years of hell'

Published Date: 19 December 2008 ( Cleveland Police the UK's most corrupt force on record.)

SUZANNE Holdsworth's solicitor has demanded an apology from police after she was put through years of hell.

Campbell Malone went on to say that Suzanne was "lucky" to have partner Lee Spencer by her side throughout her grim ordeal.

Mr Malone said: "It's difficult to use the word lucky when she has spent years in prison but she is lucky that she has had Lee by her side, he is a great guy.



"He has been the driving force behind this.

"Lee knew that she simply could not have done this and he never wavered in getting the case re-opened after her conviction."

Mr Malone hit out at police for praising their inquiry in a force publication and called on them to
apologise to Suzanne.


He added: "When Suzanne was originally convicted, the police, in their annual publication, congratulated themselves and I hope they are going to take a deep, serious look at this investigation.

"I had hoped the appeal would have been the end of it but although it has been a prolonged ordeal for Suzanne it is great that all of the evidence has come out and she has been cleared by a local jury.

"I know that the one thing Suzanne would like to come out of this case is an apology from the police."

After the case, Cleveland Police said they would not be reopening the investigation into Kyle's death, and later added an apology would not be issued.

Detective Chief Superintendent Mark Braithwaite said: "The retrial of Suzanne Holdsworth was properly brought at the direction of the Court of Appeal and followed the receipt of new expert medical evidence that was not available to the jury at the first trial.

"This has been a classic jury case. Their job is to consider the evidence against the defendant. To convict they must be sure of the defendant's guilt beyond reasonable doubt.

"The jury has properly done their job and have acquitted Suzanne Holdsworth. It is not our intention to reopen investigations into Kyle's tragic death."

Of the apology, a Cleveland Police spokeswoman added: "We are not reopening the investigation into Kyle Fisher's death and we are not issuing an apology."

Keith Simpson, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "The role of the Crown Prosecution Service is to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to justify a case being brought and a realistic prospect of conviction.

"The role of the jury is to decide whether the evidence shows beyond any reasonable doubt that the accused is guilty.

"That is how our justice system works.

"The jury have decided that Miss Holdsworth is innocent.

"I am entirely satisfied that the Crown Prosecution Service and the police were wholly right in bringing this case to court for a second time."

It later emerged that Kyle was not known to social services at Hartlepool Borough Council, and was therefore never deemed to be at risk.

A serious case review after his death concluded that any culpability for Kyle's death "lay outside any professional agency".

It also emerged during the trial that the tragic youngster was due to undergo surgery for a brain condition, but that medical evidence never came to light.

Babysitter Suzanne Holdsworth not guilty of murder

Suzanne Holdsworth always denied murdering the toddler

A babysitter who spent three years in prison for the murder of a neighbour's two-year-old son has been found not guilty at a retrial.

Suzanne Holdsworth had been accused of banging Kyle Fisher's head against a banister in Hartlepool in July 2004.

Ms Holdsworth, 38, now of Boggart Hill Drive, Leeds, was convicted in 2005.

However, doubts were raised about her conviction by journalist John Sweeney in a report for BBC Newsnight and it was quashed in May.

The jury at the retrial at Teesside Crown Court deliberated for two days before returning the not guilty verdict.

The mother-of-two was originally convicted of the murder in March 2005 and jailed for life.

Kyle: "Unlikely to have suffered massive blow to head" Freed babysitter's jail torment

She was released from prison earlier this year after serving three years.

A spokesman for Cleveland Police said the force would not be reopening the case and would not be apologising to Ms Holdsworth, while the CPS defended the police's right to bring the case to court a second time.

During Ms Holdsworth's original trial she was accused of repeatedly banging Kyle's head against a wooden banister with as much force as a 60mph crash after losing her temper.

The Newsnight programme interviewed leading neuro-pathologist Dr Wainey Squier who later gave evidence for the defence in the retrial.

She said it was "unlikely" Kyle had suffered a massive blow to the head.

During the retrial the court heard the youngster had bruising and marks to his head but Ms Holdsworth's defence maintained they were inflicted the previous day - blaming Kyle's mother - and coupled with his brain abnormalities, led to the unexpected fit.

'Terrible experience'

Professor Renzo Guerrini, a paediatric neurologist at the University of Florence Children's Hospital, said: "In my opinion there is compelling evidence he had some head injury before this night.

"This might have been trivial but sufficient enough to produce bleeding on the brain which triggered the epileptic seizure which because of Kyle's brain condition was possibly prolonged."

Lee Spencer speaks on behalf of his partner, Suzanne Holdsworth

Standing next to Ms Holdsworth outside the court on Thursday, her partner Lee Spencer said: "This case has always been about Kyle, who was a loving child, a little boy, who Suzanne's always loved and helped look after.

"We know his family deeply loved him and miss him.

"Sadly we now know that he had some bad medical features that led to his sudden collapse and death.

"We hope that this knowledge will help his family come to terms with his death.

"This has been a terrible experience for Suzanne and our family and we now just want to try and pick up the pieces of our lives together."

Those OiNKing Cleveland SOCA cops!

p2pnet news view | Music:- “Read this if you like a good laugh,” says a Reader’s Write to our Online music royalties deal story.

The comment points to an item in The Register, which in turn links to Britain’s Evening Gazette in Teeside which has a write-up of a serious embarrassment centering on the Big 4 record labels and the Cleveland police — the very same department whose officers have been acting as corporate copyright cops funded by local taxpayers.

In Canada, it’s called SOCAN. Its job? To use legal threats to force the likes of dentists and hairdressers to pay exorbitant royalty fees every time they play music for their patients and customers.

In Britain, it’s the Performing Rights Society (PRS) and, says the Gazette Live, “A police force that launched a crackdown against music piracy may itself be breaching music copyright laws, it has emerged.

“But Cleveland Police chiefs today claimed they would rather spend public cash on fighting crime than paying for music rights.”

Last October, “Cleveland Police’s Organised Crime Unit have been working closely with the Music Industry to uncover a massive piracy scam, the first such international operation in the country,” it boasted in an online statement, going on »»»

The organised crime unit, in conjunction with the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) and the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) have been working closely on the investigation for several months, and today arrested a 24 year old man in connection with Conspiracy to Defraud and Infringement of Copyright Law.

Detective Sergeant Tony Keogh was in charge and according to him, the site, OiNK, “specialized in sharing music and media including pre-release material, this is an infringement on copyright law that in financial terms causes immeasurable loss to the record companies.”

In the statement, “We have been working closely with Interpol and our Dutch colleagues in Amsterdam where the website server is based to ensure that it too was secured at the time of arrest,” he says.

And on behalf of the corporate music industry, “whilst some might view this type of act as a victimless crime there’s no such thing, as the cost of an enterprise such as this will be added to the cost of any legitimate purchases further down the line,” declares chief superintendent Mark Braithwaite, head of crime in Cleveland Police.

Said a p2pnet post on the bust »»»

“Strike, strtike, strike, going in,” says a tense, disembodied voice over a police radio in Britain.

Must be something serious.

And just before that, “The tactics were the same, but this time the target was very different.”

That’s from a reporter who, by an amazing coincidence, happened to find out about the Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG initiated raid on a 24-year-old man in England just in time to be included.

The man is accused of facilitating the non-existent crime of online file sharing on OiNK and, “The aim was to catch the man while he was logged on to the site,” the reporter continues in a video shot from inside a police car nearing the home of the ’suspect’.

But he’s not alone.

As the videoman follows the police into the man’s house, you see camera flashes popping off.

Next up is local cop enjoying his 15 minutes of fame as the Big 4 milk the situation they created bone dry.

“The police say it is no longer a victimless crime,” the reporter continues, “but they admit few feel sympathy for the multi-billion-dollar record companies being deprived of their profits.”

By another amazing coincidence, the video of the bust turned up on YouTube, as a p2pnet reader pointed out.

British taxpayers will no doubt be delighted to see their hard earned money is being well spent - by Warner Music, EMI, Vivendi Universal and Sony BMG.

Don’t bother to stay tuned.

“Alan Ellis the admin of OiNK, will appear in court along with five users accused of uploading music via the BitTorrent tracker. The six will appear before magistrates to learn if their cases will be sent on to a Crown Court,” says TorrentFreak.

And the apprehension of these wicked, file sharing P2P criminals is largely due to the sterling efforts of the Cleveland cops.

But wait!

“Music licensing authority the Performing Rights Society (PRS) claims many forces have no licence to allow the playing of music in their stations,” said the Gazette Online yesterday, going on:

“A PRS licence is required by law in many cases when music is played outside a domestic home.

“The licence fee - which for a whole police force could run from several hundred to thousands of pounds a year - is applicable to music played on a television, radio or CD player, music played in areas such as staff canteens or social areas, and during a presentation or social event.

“Cleveland Police is among dozens of forces that have not paid up.”

But no worries.

“The legal action is on hold while negotiations take place in a bid to reach a settlement,” the story adds.

After all, what are friends for?

Here’s a video of the bust referred to earlier on.

The Register - BitTorrent crackdown cops fail to pay music copyright fees, September 24, 2008
Evening Gazette - No licence for police, September 24, 2008

No licence for Cleveland Police OINK Alan Ellis

I think this amounts to conspiracy to defraud the music industry as
Derek Bonnard clearly conspired with others not to pay. But Cleveland
Police have always been willing to break the law when it suits them.
Opinion by Brian Howes.

Sep 23 2008 by Simon Walton, Evening Gazette

A POLICE force that launched a crackdown against music piracy may itself be breaching music copyright laws, it has emerged.

But Cleveland Police chiefs today claimed they would rather spend public cash on fighting crime than paying for music rights.

Music licensing authority the Performing Rights Society (PRS) claims many forces have no licence to allow the playing of music in their stations.

A PRS licence is required by law in many cases when music is played outside a domestic home.

The licence fee - which for a whole police force could run from several hundred to thousands of pounds a year - is applicable to music played on a television, radio or CD player, music played in areas such as staff canteens or social areas, and during a presentation or social event.

Cleveland Police is among dozens of forces that have not paid up. Last year the force made headlines across the world when it swooped on a Middlesbrough house to crack a suspected international music piracy scam worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.

It is alleged the website, called Oink, involved a private file sharing site with a worldwide membership of 180,000 people. It is said to have allowed the uploading and downloading of pre-release music. The high-profile raid sent shock waves around the internet world.

Now Cleveland Police may itself have fallen foul of music copyright laws.

Other businesses that require a licence if music is played include hairdressers or shops.

The PRS has taken Lancashire Police to the High Court asking for an injunction over the issue. The legal action is on hold while negotiations take place in a bid to reach a settlement.

A PRS spokeswoman said only around 11 police forces in the UK currently hold a licence.

Cleveland Police Deputy Chief Constable Derek Bonnard said: “We continue to assess the position and are seeking advice to determine if we are required by law to spend a significant amount of public money, which we consider is better committed to crime fighting, in this way.”

Six people have been charged in connection with the Oink arrests in October of last year and are due before Teesside Magistrates’ Court.