April 1, 2004 The Sun by Lyndsey Weatherall

Craig Botham, 17, right, contracted the human form of mad cow disease but he did not know he had it until last year.

He started feeling tired and depressed and his family thought he was worried about exams.

Within months the fatal Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease took hold. Devastated parents, Yvonne Brownrigg and Derek Botham, both 45, of Wigan, Greater Manchester, are convinced he ate contaminated babyfood before the regulations changed.

Expert Professor Richard Lacey said: "CJD is not destroyed by canning. The problem is the food's no longer around to test." Nursery nurse Yvonne said: "This lay dormant in his body for ten years. He was exposed to contaminated food. If it wasn't the babyfood we'd all have eaten something similar."

The couple said it was "outrageous" the Government of the time had allowed contaminated food to hit the shelves.