THE mother of Britain's youngest Ecstasy victim has spoken of her sorrow at losing her "angel" after the pair accused of her daughter's manslaughter were cleared.

Rebecca Hodgson, 21, formerly of Salford Road, Galgate, and her boyfriend at the time, Wayne Wood, 22, of Highland Brow, Galgate, were found not guilty of manslaughter by a jury at Manchester Crown Court.

But Wood was remanded in custody and faces sentencing Friday 19th for possessing and dealing in Ecstasy tablets.

Jade's mum, care worker Beverley Slack, called the 14 months since her daughter's death a "nightmare".

"Jade was and still is our life," she said. "She brought so much love and happiness to us all and everyone she knew," she said last night.

"Always smiling and laughing, she never a sad face, but the happiness has been taken away from us. It puts so much strain on day-to-day life - It feels like life has been taken away from us.

"Rebecca and Wayne's parents will always be able to see them to talk and say goodnight. But we will never be able to do that to Jade. It hurts so much." She said Jade would always be her "angel".

During the eight-day trial, the court heard how ten-year-old Jade Slack died last July after swallowing five of the rave pills at Ms Hodgson's Salford Road home.

Both pleaded not guilty and told the court of their shock at the death of the girl they say they "loved".

James Pickup QC, prosecuting, said Jade could have been saved if a 999 call had been made sooner.

But Judge Justice Morland told the jury to ignore that part of the prosecution case.

He said: "Although it may have been stupid not to have done so, that failure, on the evidence, was not the cause of her death." The prosecution claimed that the pair had a duty to protect Jade from the class A drug, but judge Morland ordered the jury to ignore charges of child cruelty alleged against each defendant.

He claimed, on the facts heard in court, that neither Wood nor Ms Hodgson were legally responsible for Jade.

On Tuesday, Ms Hodgson broke down as she relived the day Jade died. She told the court she believed the drugs were safe at her home.

She said Jade was at the house when Wood rang and asked her to move the 35 Ecstasy pills he had left in a cigarette box under the settee.

Ms Hodgson recalled how she took the packet upstairs, made sure they were all there and hid them on a baby's changing trolley behind a teddy bear in a bedroom.

She said the first she knew there was something wrong with Jade was 20 minutes later. The court how Jade was then given a shower - to cool her down.

Ms Hodgson said she had taken Ecstasy herself when the pills were given to her by Wood and had never had a bad experience from the drug.

The court also heard how Ms Hodgson had told police: " I didn't think she would die. I loved that little girl. I would have preferred to have my son taken from me than Jade lose her life." Wood told the court he had been concerned about the tablets because Jade was in the house and had phoned Ms Hodgson."I thought I could rely on Becky and had no reason to believe I could not trust her to put them in a safe place." He added: "When I learned that Jade had died I was shocked and I didn't think it was true. I still feel the same about it today.

"I didn't think Jade would go looking for tablets. At the time I didn't think there was a risk." Wood told the court he knew he should have called an ambulance straight away but said: "We were only trying to do what was best." Jade was rushed to the Royal Lancaster Infirmary by relatives but she did not respond to treatment and died after suffering a cardiac arrest.