Dr Falconer fought to save the baby's life

Dr Robert Falconer - who mistakenly injected air into the child's bloodstream - had denied a charge of manslaughter through gross negligence.

The jury at Swansea Crown Court heard the 45-year-old doctor was a broken man after making the "catastrophic" mistake during routine surgery.

Medics then fought in vain to reverse the damage before Dr Falconer broke the news of Aaron Havard's death to the child's parents, Philip and Kathryn, from Manselton in Swansea.

In a statement, Swansea NHS Trust expressed its "deepest regret and sadness" for the death of baby Aaron.

All we have are the special memories of a much-loved and missed baby son Philip Havard, father of baby Aaron

The trial had heard Dr Falconer, from Sketty in Swansea, had injected two doses of air into a drip leading into baby Aaron's blood during surgery for a stomach disorder at the city's Singleton Hospital in April 2002.

He had been asked by the surgeon carrying out the operation to inflate the baby's stomach with air so that any leakage would be obvious.

Once Dr Falconer realised the mistake he had made, he immediately alerted the surgeon. A specialist paediatric cardiac arrest team took over and fought for an hour to save the baby.

Their only chance was to save him was to insert a thin line into a vein, feed it directly into a heart chamber, and physically suck out the air. But all efforts failed.

Dr Falconer, who broke down in tears when he gave evidence last Thursday, had been at a loss to explain why he had made the mistake during a procedure which he had carried out at least 40 times.

He told the jury the operation had been "absolutely normal" and he believed he had injected the air into the right tube.

Six-week-old Aaron Havard had undergone routine stomach surgery

During the eight day trial he admitted that he had made a "catastrophic" mistake, and had publicly repeated his apology to the Aaron's parents who were in court.

The trial had heard evidence from prosecution barrister Patrick Harrington QC that the anaesthetist had made a "colossal mistake" which was repeated when, not realising the error, he injected air for a second time.

"The result was catastrophic. Injections of air into the body have fatal consequences, and that is something which would be well known to Dr Falconer."

The doctor's colleagues had told the trial that he was held in high regard, and had been completely distressed and a broken man after making the mistake.

The NHS trusts statement said the death had been a "personal tragedy" for Dr Falconer, whom it considered to be a "dedicated professional".

"He has been deeply affected by the tragic consequences of the anaesthetic error and this has been reflected in the evidence which was given in the trial," the statement read.

"It has also had a great impact on his clinical colleagues who were involved in caring for Aaron."