A COUPLE who pleaded guilty to child cruelty charges after doctors discovered their baby boy had nine broken bones have been spared jail.

Tracy McKenzie and her ex-partner, Scott Colman, were given suspended prison sentences at Burnley Crown Court yesterday.

Judge Andrew Woolman described the neglect as 'appalling' but the pair, from Oswaldtwistle, walked free after a dramatic sentencing during which Colman, 30, collapsed and was treated by paramedics.

McKenzie, a mother-of-five, of Rhyddings Street, Oswaldtwistle, wept repeatedly in the dock as more than a dozen members of her family looked on.

The pair had previously admitted, during separate trials, failing to seek medical assistance for the child after doctors discovered the horrific injuries while looking for symptoms of meningitis.

The boy, then aged three months, suffered a fractured skull with bleeding on the brain, as well as fractures to five ribs, two vertebrae and one tibia, between September 16 and December 17, 2012.

The court heard that at the time of the injuries, Colman was the child's main carer, but that McKenzie also had daily contact when she was not working at Oswaldtwistle Mills.

Philip Holden, defending Colman, said: "Whatever anyone's private thoughts may be, regrettably we will never know who caused these injuries to a criminal standard. There is no doubt that this is an extremely sad case but the sentence must be imposed on the basis of the failure to obtain medical help."

Judge Woolman acknowledged that there had been 'protracted ill treatment' of the baby but said he could not prove who had inflicted the injuries, which were described by medics as 'non-accidental'.

He said: "I am unimpressed by the silence of whichever one of you knows what has happened. There may even be a conspiracy of silence between the two of you but I cannot sentence on the basis of silence, but on the basis of what you have admitted. I have borne that very much in mind."

Colman, now of Yorkshire Place, Bishop Auckland, initially contacted NHS Direct with concerns over the baby’s health on December 8, 2012. Two doctors attended the couple’s former home in New Lane, Oswaldtwistle, and recommended that the baby was taken to Royal Blackburn Hospital.

The pair were arrested two days later and eventually charged with two counts of causing unnecessary suffering to a child under the age of 16 by assault, ill treatment, neglect or abandonment in April last year.

McKenzie, 41, changed her initial not guilty plea to guilty on the second day of a trial at Burnley Crown Court in February, while Colman, who has previous convictions for assault, admitted the same offence on the second day of his trial last month.

Both were given eight month prison sentences, suspended for two years. A second child cruelty charge, which related to the baby’s twin brother, will remain on file.