U.K.- Convictions in 250 'cot death' cases to be reviewed

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http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/legal/story.jsp?story=482774

 

Convictions in 250 'cot death' cases to be reviewedPA

19 January 2004

 

The Attorney General today announced a review of more than 250 cases in which

parents have been convicted of killing children under the age of two.

 

Lord Goldsmith announced the review after the Court of Appeal called for a halt

to the prosecution of parents for murdering their babies when expert evidence

points to the possibility of " cot death " .

 

He stated: " The judgment has demonstrated that, in relation to unexplained

infant deaths, where the outcome of the trial depends exclusively, or almost

exclusively, on a serious disagreement between distinguished and reputable

experts, it will often be unsafe to proceed.

 

" I share the unease expressed by the Court of Appeal in relation to such

convictions. "

 

Lord Goldsmith said that last month he asked for all cases potentially involving

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) to be identified as quickly as possible.

 

" To date, some 258 convictions over the past 10 years have been identified

involving the murder, manslaughter or infanticide of an infant aged under two

years of age by its parent.

 

Lord Justice Judge, giving the court's reasons today for its decision last month

to clear Angela Cannings of murdering her two baby sons said medical science was

" still at the frontiers of knowledge " about unexplained infant deaths.

 

" Necessarily, further research is needed and fortunately, thanks to the

dedication of the medical profession, it is continuing, " he said.

 

All this suggested that, for the time being, where a full investigation into two

or more sudden unexplained infant deaths in the same family was followed by a

serious disagreement between reputable experts about the cause of death, and

natural causes could not be excluded as a reasonable possibility, " the

prosecution of a parents or parents for murder should not be started or

continued unless there is additional cogent evidence " .

 

The judge, sitting with Mrs Justice Rafferty and Mr Justice Pitchers, said: " In

cases like the present, if the outcome of the trial depends exclusively or

almost exclusively on a serious disagreement between distinguished and reputable

experts, it will often be unwise, and therefore unsafe, to proceed.

 

" We recognise that justice may not be done in a small number of cases where in

truth a mother has deliberately killed her baby without leaving any identifiable

evidence of the crime.

 

" That is an undesirable result which, however, avoids a worse one.

 

" Unless we are sure of guilt, the dreadful possibility always remains that a

mother, already brutally scarred by the unexplained deaths of her babies, may

find herself in prison for life for killing them when she should not be there at

all.

 

" In our community, and in any civilised community, that is abhorrent. "

 

Today's comments by the judges, who last month reached the " clear conclusion "

that Mrs Cannings should be freed from her life jail sentence, follows closely

on the latest example of the medical uncertainty they referred to - the change

in advice to parents on avoiding " sudden infant death syndrome " .

 

Mrs Cannings, 40, a shop assistant from Salisbury, Wiltshire, was convicted by a

Winchester Crown Court jury in April 2002 of smothering seven-week-old Jason in

1991 and 18-week-old Matthew in 1999.

 

She was not charged over the death of her first child, Gemma, at the age of 13

weeks in 1989.

 

Her surviving daughter, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was born in

January 1996.

 

Her appeal centred on argument that the jury was faced with the impossible task

of weighing up conflicting expert evidence given by eminent paediatricians on

each side who disagreed over the cause of death.

 

The case followed a decision earlier last year to overturn solicitor Sally

Clarke's conviction of murdering her two young sons, and the acquittal of

pharmacist Trupti Patel on charges of murdering her three babies.

 

document.write( getDateString() );20 January 2004 20:38

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