Shocking jury decision in death of toddler Jordan Thompson after mother’s boyfriend Cecil Patrick Kennedy was charged with giving boy antidepressants

A jury has again failed to reach a unanimous verdict in the death of toddler Jordan Thompson, nearly two decades later.

The 21-month-old boy was found unconscious and rushed to Singleton Hospital in the Hunter region of New South Wales on 19 March 2005.

At the time, the boy was in the care of Cecil Patrick Kennedy, who was facing a second murder trial in the New South Wales District Court after the first trial concluded in September 2023 with a hung jury.

Prosecutors alleged that Kennedy, who at the time was in a relationship with his mother, Bernice Swales, gave the boy antidepressants.

However, the jury was dismissed on Monday after failing to reach a unanimous or majority verdict.

During the trial, the jury heard that Jordan was restless and crying when Kennedy took him to her room the morning before he died.

After that, the boy was seen drowsy and unsteady on his feet and vomiting, before Mrs Swales put him to bed and left for the shops.

When she returned, she found her son naked and unresponsive on a bed while Kennedy attempted to perform CPR on him.

Jordan was rushed to hospital unresponsive and was pronounced dead shortly before 7 p.m.

Crown prosecutor Kate Nightingale said toxicology analysis found traces of the antidepressant amitriptyline, sold under the brand name Endep, for which Kennedy had a prescription.

The jury heard Kennedy changed his story of what happened to Jordan, initially telling Swales he had fallen in or out of the bathtub.

She later told police she had left the boy unsupervised in the bathtub for about 40 seconds before returning to find him face down in the water, Nightingale said.

The case is scheduled to return to court on October 4.