TRAGIC mum Donna Hanson broke down in floods of tears as an inquest jury finally removed suspicions that she had killed her two sons.

The jury returned a verdict that Toby Woods had died of natural causes, marking the end of a five-year nightmare for Donna and her family.

The six women and five men had taken just under two hours to reach their decision at the end of the two-week hearing at Clitheroe Town Hall.

Donna, 26, of Church Street, Accrington, said: "I have always maintained my innocence and now I have been vindicated by a jury of my peers. My son Toby, who I dearly loved, died of natural causes.

"This is the end of a five-year battle for myself, Toby's dad Rob and both our families, not forgetting my surviving child who I love so very much. I can now grieve for my two sons, Ashley and Toby. They will always be in my heart.

"All I ever wanted was a family of my own and a partner to love and cherish. That was cruelly taken away from me and Rob. I wish to thank my mum, grandmother and loyal family and my solicitors for their love and support over the past five years.

"It has been a nightmare. I took my children to the hospital thinking that it was the best place for them and instead of focusing on my boys they focused on me and that was a travesty."

Three-month old Toby died in September 1999, less than a year after the death of his 10-month-old brother Ashley.

Donna was arrested on suspicion of killing both boys in January 2000 and it wasn't until last year that she was finally told that she would not be facing charges.

An inquest into the death of Ashley in March 1999 recorded a verdict of unascertained natural causes.

The inquest into the death of Toby, which was repeatedly adjourned during the course of the police probe, was originally scheduled to go ahead in January but was shelved at the last minute because Donna was ill.

During the course of the inquest the jury heard evidence from nurses at Queen's Park Hospital, Blackburn, where Toby was admitted to the children's medical unit after he became "pale and floppy", and the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital, Pendlebury, where he was later transferred for tests.

The inquest heard how Toby had suffered a number of "episodes", which included shallow breathing, turning blue and prolonged staring.

Nurses began to suspect that Donna was harming Toby because medical staff did not see the start of many of the "episodes".

It was later revealed that some medical staff did witness "staring incidents" but they were not brought to the attention of senior staff.

Tests at Royal Manchester showed that Toby was suffering from gastro-oesaphageal reflux, where acid is forced up from the stomach. This can cause the vocal chords to close, making breathing difficult. Toby was found to have refluxed 208 times in a 20-hour period.

He was transferred back to Queen's Park and Donna was shown how to thicken his feeds in a bid to stop him being sick.

Six days after being discharged Toby stopped breathing while at home in Pendle Street, Accrington, and was taken to Blackburn Royal Infirmary by paramedics, but medical staff were unable to revive him.