Jury discharged in Cecil Patrick Kennedy’s manslaughter trial
A jury in the manslaughter trial of a man charged over the tragic death of a toddler in the Hunter Valley region has been discharged after they were unable to reach a verdict.
Police & Courts
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A jury has been unable to reach a verdict in the second trial of a man accused of fatally poisoning his partner’s child with antidepressants.
Cecil Patrick Kennedy, 51, had pleaded not guilty to manslaughter in relation to the death of 21-month-old Jordan Thompson at his Singleton unit on March 19, 2005.
He was arrested in September 2021 – more than 16 years after the child’s death.
In recent weeks he had faced his second trial at Sydney District Court – and for the second time, a jury was unable to reach a unanimous or majority verdict on the charge.
The jury in the second trial, which began in mid-August, was discharged on Monday afternoon.
Kennedy’s matter will next be mentioned at Sydney District Court on October 4.
“The matter will be considered by the ODPP and a decision will be made in accordance with the Prosecution Guidelines,” an Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions said in a statement about the prospect of a third trial.
The court has previously heard how on the day Jordan died, his mother Bernice Swales had left the house to run errands and buy dinner.
When she returned, she found the toddler unresponsive on a bed at the Singleton unit, with Kennedy saying something was wrong with the child.
The pair both tried to resuscitate Jordan before picking him up and running across the road to the Singleton hospital for help.
In the second trial, the jury heard Kennedy told police the child had drowned, and that he had found him face down after briefly leaving him alone in the bathtub.
The Crown alleged Kennedy deliberately gave the child a lethal dose of an antidepressant, or was negligent in leaving the child unsupervised in the bath.
Kennedy’s defence barrister Linda McSpedden said her client “vigorously” denied allegations he gave Jordan an antidepressant.
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