Binnaway baby murder charge dropped against former X Factor contestant Mitchell David Callaway
Former X-Factor contestant Mitchell Callaway has had a murder charge against him dropped. (Supplied)
In short:
Prosecutors have withdrawn a murder charge against former X Factor contestant Mitchell David Callaway.
He had been accused of killing a nine-month-old baby in his care in July 2018, after an inquest into her death suggested he assaulted the child.
What's next?
Mr Callaway is not facing any other charges in relation to the baby's death.
A former X Factor contestant charged with the alleged murder of a baby in Central West New South Wales in 2018 has had his murder charge dropped.
Mitchell David Callaway, 39, was excused from Dubbo Local Court on Thursday, when the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution dropped the single murder charge against him.
Mr Callaway was arrested at Bowraville on the NSW Mid North Coast in June last year following a five-year investigation by police into the death of a nine-month-old girl at Binnaway in July 2018.
The 39-year-old was arrested and charged last year after a five-year police investigation. (Supplied: NSW Police)
He was later charged with the girl's murder.
Emergency services were called to a home at Binnaway just after 10am on July 23, 2018, following reports a nine-month-old girl was unresponsive.
The baby was taken to Coonabarabran Hospital by NSW Ambulance Paramedics and, despite the efforts of medical staff, she died a short time later.
Medical evidence before the courts showed the infant had suffered significant injuries to the head, including a skull fracture.
NSW Police executed a search warrant at a Binnaway home in June 2023 while investigating the suspicious death of a baby in 2018. (Supplied: NSW Police)
However, the exact cause of death and when the baby acquired the injuries remains unknown.
During a coronial inquest held between December 2022 and April 2023, evidence linking Mr Callaway to the baby's death emerged.
Police alleged Mr Callaway fatally assaulted the infant while he was babysitting her on July 23, 2018, and these injuries caused the baby to go into cardiac arrest.
But Mr Callaway's defence lawyer Bill Dickens has argued there is no evidence to link the injuries to the cardiac arrest, and the baby's skull could have been fractured up to a week before her death.
The charge was withdrawn and dismissed.