A MAN has been charged with the murder of his baby son.

Michael Shutt, 30, of Seventrees Avenue, Little Harwood, Blackburn, appeared before magistrates charged with the murder of son Kieron, aged three-and-a-half months.

Shutt appeared before magistrates in Whitehaven, Cumbria, where he was formally charged.

He had originally been charged with assault and causing grievous bodily harm but it was amended following medical evidence the prosecution had been waiting for.

The alleged offence is said to have happened in Millom, Cumbria, on October 18 last year.

A post mortem examination was carried out on baby Kieron at the time but it proved inconclusive. A 27-year-old woman was alo questioned last year but no charges were brought.

Shutt, an unemployed labourer, spoke only to confirm his name and address.

He was conditionally bailed to appear before Carlisle Crown Court on April 30 on condition he volunteers for a psychiatric examination.

Magistrates also prohibited the identification of an address in which he was ordered to stay.