Vaccination News Home Page                                            subscribe Vaccination NewsLetter

http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/326/7384/304?etoc

PDF of this article Email this article to a friend Respond to this article Read responses to this article Other related articles in BMJ PubMed citation Related articles in PubMed Download to Citation Manager This article has been cited by other articles Search Medline for articles by: Dyer, C. Alert me when: New articles cite this article

Collections under which this article appears: Medicine and the law (incl forensic medicine) Infants Abuse (child, partner, elder)

BMJ 2003;326:304 ( 8 February )

News

Sally Clark freed after appeal court quashes her convictions

Clare Dyer, legal correspondent, BMJ

Sally Clark, the British solicitor convicted three years ago of murdering two of her babies, was freed last week by the Court of Appeal.

Mrs Clark, who had already lost one appeal, had her case referred back to the appeal court after her defence team discovered microbiology results obtained by Alan Williams, the Home Office pathologist who carried out the postmortem examination on her second son, Harry. The findings had not been disclosed to police, prosecutors, defence lawyers, or the other doctors in the case.

She was charged with murder after Harry died aged 8 weeks in January 1998, in circumstances which were strikingly similar to those surrounding the death of her first son, Christopher, at 11 weeks in December 1996.

Christopher's death was originally diagnosed as sudden infant death syndrome. Dr Williams, and Professor Michael Green, who was brought into the case by Dr Williams, now face investigations by the General Medical Council and the Home Office after complaints lodged by Martin Bell, Mrs Clark's former MP.

Professor Green, professor emeritus of forensic pathology at Sheffield University, is not thought to have seen the test results, which showed Staphylococcus aureus from eight sites of the baby's body, including the cerebral spinal fluid.

The results, which Dr Williams had had since February 1998, were discovered by the defence team in records kept at Macclesfield hospital, where he works as an NHS consultant histopathologist.

Lord Justice Kay, who presided over the appeal, said Dr Williams had failed "to share with other doctors investigating the cause of death information that a competent pathologist ought to have appreciated needed to be assessed before any conclusion was reached." He added: "We have no doubt that the resulting convictions are, therefore, unsafe and must be quashed."

The Crown Prosecution Service said in a statement: "The defence called expert evidence to suggest that it is theoretically possible that the second child died from a reaction to a toxin associated with the common bacterium Staphylococcus aureus, which was found in his body.

"This was considered by experts for the crown, one of whom gave evidence, who did not accept that this theory fitted the facts. However, the Court of Appeal held that this issue should properly have been left to the jury."

The jury was told by the eminent paediatrician Professor Roy Meadow, a crown witness, that the chances of two cot deaths in a family like the Clarks was 1 in 73 million. This statistic was criticised as seriously misleading in an editorial in the BMJ (2000; 320:2-3)[Free Full Text]. But Professor Meadow said that the figure had not led to the conviction of Sally Clark, because none of the paediatric experts called as witnesses had believed that the children had died of sudden infant death syndrome (BMJ 2002;324:41-3)[Free Full Text].

The judges in the previous appeal played down its possible prejudicial effect on the jury, but Lord Justice Kay, presiding over the new appeal, said the figure was "dramatic evidence that one could confidently expect to have a dramatic impact on the jury."

(Credit: KIRSTY WIGGLESWORTH/PA)   Sally Clark with her husband, Stephen. Tests showed that Staphylococcus aureus was present in the body of her second son

© 2003 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd

This article has been cited by other articles:

				R. Wilson TV: Cot Death Mothers: The Witch Hunt BMJ, February 15, 2003; 326(7385): 402 - 402. [Full Text]

Rapid responses:

Read all Rapid responses

Staphylococcus aureus from eight sites of the baby's body, including the cerebral spinal fluid.

Donna Young

bmj.com, 9 Feb 2003 [Full text]

Other related articles in BMJ:

EDITOR'S CHOICE
Protecting children.

BMJ 2003 326: 0. [Full text]  

 

PDF of this article Email this article to a friend Respond to this article Read responses to this article Other related articles in BMJ PubMed citation Related articles in PubMed Download to Citation Manager Search Medline for articles by: Dyer, C. Alert me when: New articles cite this article

Collections under which this article appears: Medicine and the law (incl forensic medicine) Infants Abuse (child, partner, elder)

© 2003 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd

Vaccination News Home Page

ALL INFORMATION, DATA, AND MATERIAL CONTAINED, PRESENTED, OR PROVIDED HERE IS FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED AS REFLECTING THE KNOWLEDGE OR OPINIONS OF THE PUBLISHER, AND IS NOT TO BE CONSTRUED OR INTENDED AS PROVIDING MEDICAL OR LEGAL ADVICE.  THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND COMPLEX ISSUE AND SHOULD BE MADE BY YOU, AND YOU ALONE, IN CONSULTATION WITH YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER.