ANGUISHED dad Robert Woods broke his silence on his baby's death to say he had lost all faith in the NHS.

Speaking on the seventh day of a sensational inquest into the death of three-month-old Toby Woods in September 1999, he said: "The doctors sent him home to die."

The jury had heard that medical staff at the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital discharged Toby even though they suspected he was being harmed by his mum Donna Hanson.

Shortly afterwards he died in Blackburn Royal Infirmary, where he was rushed after he had stopped breathing.

Miss Hanson, 26, was arrested in 2000 on suspicion of killing Toby and his 10-month-old brother Ashley, who had died less than a year earlier. It was not until last August that police said they would not be pressing charges against her.

Mr Woods, now separated from Miss Hanson, broke down as he said: "If what the nursing staff and paediatric consultant Dr Richard Newton said was true, they sent my son home to die.

"They thought someone was harming my son and they did nothing about it."

Mr Woods, of Pendle Street, Accrington, added: "I'd like to think Toby died of natural causes but you can't be sure."

He said he had now taken out private medical insurance so his family would not have to use an NHS hospital ever again.

Meanwhile, family members blasted the police investigation into the deaths.

Miss Hanson's mother Doreen Harkness, of Henry Street, and grandmother Alison Harkness, of Bold Street, both Accrington, told how they were quizzed for four hours at separate police stations following her arrest.

And her father Robert Hanson, of Worsley Court, Oswaldtwistle, revealed that police had accused him of abusing her when she was a child - a claim denied by both father and daughter.

Miss Harkness said: "I just think that all of this could have been investigated better than it has been."

Her mother added: "It has taken too long and caused the family so much stress."

Recalled to the witness box, Miss Hanson said: "Why did my son have to die when they had found a cause at Pendlebury - severe reflux? Why were no follow-up examinations carried out as suggested by Dr Newton?

"All I ever wanted was a family. We were happy and in one fell swoop I lost everything."

The inquest is expected to end on Friday.