A FATHER accused of seriously injuring his three-week-old son has made his first appearance at Liverpool crown court. Dean Hodkinson, 20, is alleged to have caused his new-born son grievous bodily harm. The baby was taken to Arrowe Park hospital by his parents on August 9 with serious injuries.

MAGISTRATES yesterday remanded a 20-year-old man in custody on charges of committing grievous bodily harm to a three-week-old boy. Dean Hodkinson, of no fixed abode, who is charged with a Section 18 assault on the baby boy, appeared at Wirral Magistrates Court.

POLICE have arrested the parents and grandparents of a baby admitted to hospital with serious but "unexplained" injuries. It is understood the three-week-old boy had a cracked skull, broken collarbone and bruised spine when he was taken into Arrowe Park hospital on Sunday by his parents.

PLANS for a walk-in centre at a Merseyside hospital are being developed. The news comes after Ben Chapman MP presented a petition to parliament asking Wirral primary care trust to provide a walk-in centre and minor injuries unit for patients at Clatterbridge hospital.

By KEVIN CORE ACHILD starved of oxygen in his mother's womb has won a large compensation pay-out from the hospital that failed him. Seven-year-old Stephen Loraine, of Rock Ferry, needs 24-hour care after doctors atWirral's Arrowe Park hospital sent his mother home following a scan in August 2000.