A FATHER accused of killing his baby daughter has spoken of the “two-and-a-half years of hell” he endured as he fought to clear his name.

On Tuesday, Tom Smith, 26, walked free from a court after a second jury failed to reach a verdict on whether he was responsible for the death of eight-week-old Chantelle Pilkington.

The tot, who Mr Smith called his “princess”, died from head injuries sustained at her home in Friars Street, Shoebury, in August 2009.

Her father was originally charged with murder, but the charge was reduced to manslaughter during his first trial held last October, when a jury failed to reach a verdict.

A month later, the Crown Prosecution Service delivered the bombshell Mr Smith would be retried on a charge of manslaughter, which he denied.

Mr Smith said of the first trial: “I felt very angry and upset. The trial shouldn’t have even started, but it should have ended then. I had to wait another six months for the second trial.

“It was agonising I had to go through all that again. It brought all the memories back.”

During both trials, Mr Smith, formerly of Fernbrook Avenue, Southend, admitted shaking his daughter, but only to try to revive her after finding she had stopped breathing, Chantelle fought for three days at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, before a decision was taken to switch off her life support machine.

Mr Smith said: “I wasn’t told anything. I wanted to be by my daughter’s side, but I wasn’t allowed to see her. If I had been at that hospital I wouldn’t have let them switch that machine off, but I had no say in it all.

“It was tough to find a kid in that state. It was nightmare that I wouldn’t want anyone to go through, but then to be arrested over it as well was awful. I felt like my heart was ripped in two.”

Mr Smith spent time with friends, first in Blackpool and later in Scotland, while on bail between the trials.

He said: “I had to get on with my life. I knew from day one that I was innocent, so I always walked around with my head held high. It’s only now that I can start to grieve for Chantelle.”

Asked what he believed caused the death of his daughter, who was born during Mr Smith’s two-year relationship with her mother, Claire Pilkington, Mr Smith said: “I believe there must have been some medical thing they missed.” Mr Smith, who has four brothers and two sisters, said: “My mum and dad, brothers and sisters and all my friends have been amazing, especially my mum Janice. When it was over, she wept tears of joy.”

Daniel Lever, 28, from Hockley, has stood by his friend throughout both trials.

He said: “We have been friends for ten years.

“It’s hard to describe what it did to him, and it was really hard to know how to help him.

“I was speechless when I heard about it all.

“Chantelle was just beautiful. Every time I saw Tom with her I smiled, because it was magical to see the love he had for her.”

Claire Pilkington and her family declined to comment when approached by the Echo