THE family of an eight-week-old baby — allegedly murdered by his father four years go — were last Thursday given permission to bury his remains by one of the country's top judges.

Michael Burridge, 30, of Tavistock, is serving a life sentence after being convicted at Plymouth Crown Court in March 2008, of murdering his baby son, Rees.

But as the former soldier and window cleaner launched a Court of Appeal bid to clear his name, Rees' body lay unburied.

However, in a preliminary hearing prior to the appeal, Lord Justice Levesor ordered that the baby's body be released for burial.

Using laws drawn up in the 19th century — which the appeal judge did not realise applied to him — he exercised his power as a 'de facto coroner' to order the release.

Describing the situation as 'terrible', the judge made an order under the Coroners Act 1887 to allow the 'corporeal remains' to be buried.

The order was an unexpected result of a preliminary hearing, in which it was revealed that a range of medical issues will form the focus of Burridge's appeal.

Prosecutors alleged that he had killed his son at his Tavistock home by shaking him while his mother, Donna, was out shopping — but Burridge contests the allegation.

Among the issues at the appeal will be the suggestion that Rees may have suffered from congenital bone and vitamin deficiencies which made him particularly vulnerable.

Causes of infant death have been a long-standing area of heated controversy in the medical world and Burridge's barrister, David Thomas, said there is 'no common ground' between experts due to testify at the hearing of the appeal later this year.

Crown counsel, Joanne Martin, said there had been 'quite a bit of rhetoric' between experts who fundamentally disagree about the causes of Rees' death.

Declaring himself 'not interested in internecine squabbles between doctors' the judge said it was for Burridge's lawyers to present evidence capable of undermining the safety of his conviction.

Urging both sides to ensure the appeal goes ahead, he said that, if doctors had to work over weekends to finalise their evidence 'that's just too bad'.

'The public interest in the disposal of this appeal has become a very serious and important factor,' he told the court.

It was the prosecution case at the trial that the father-of-two Burridge — who told police he would never dream of hurting his children — killed Rees in September 2006 by fracturing his ribs and viciously shaking him.