Man guilty of killing baby
A man was this afternoon found guilty of killing a six-month-old baby he thought was his own son and dumping the youngster's body in a Smethwick stream.
Jurors took around eight hours to find 21-year-old Sherwain McCoy Smith guilty of the manslaughter of Troy Simpson, son of his girlfriend Danielle.
Smith was cleared of murder. He sat motionless in the dock as the Birmingham Crown Court jurors delivered their verdicts.
Danielle Simpson, now 18, was sitting in the public gallery of Court 12 and burst into tears on hearing the jurors' decision.
Seconds later she ran out of court followed by a police support officer.
Sentencing was adjourned for a month pending reports.
The jury of nine men and three women gave their verdicts after a four-week trial which heard forensic evidence linked Smith to the site were Troy's body was found in February last year and to the bin liners he was found wrapped in.
Jamaican-born Smith, formerly of Arden Road, Smethwick, had denied both murdering the youngster who was taken from his cot overnight on February 6 last year, and conspiring to pervert the course of justice over his disappearance.
Troy had lived with teenage mother Danielle and grandmother Theresa Simpson in The Uplands, Smethwick, from where he was taken from his cot. His body was found in a culvert of Thimblemill Brook, 500m away from the family home 36 hours after he was first found to be missing.
The court heard that Smith had previous convictions for possessing cannabis and assault.
Defence barrister Mr Paul Lewis QC said Smith had a history of psychotic behaviour, but said there was "no evidence" he was suffering from such an interlude at the time of Troy's death.
Police today said they could not release a picture of Smith for legal reasons.
