Parents deny baby death charge
The parents of a newborn baby boy who died at their home have denied causing his death.
Marina Smyth, 20, and Michael Osborne, 21, entered not guilty pleas to a charge of causing or allowing physical harm to a child in Tonbridge between November 16 and December 10 last year.
The couple spoke only to be identified when they appeared at Maidstone Crown Court on Tuesday. The trial date was fixed for May 21, but it is likely to be moved to July 2 to fit in with lawyers’ availability.
Bailey Smyth-Osborne was less than three weeks old when he died at the house in Walters Farm Road on December 5.
Emergency services, including air ambulance doctors, attempted to save him.
Bail was continued for Osborne, now of Bybrook Road, Kennington, Ashford, and Smyth, now of Oxford Gardens, Maidstone.
The trial is expected to last three weeks and feature a number of expert witnesses.