“Shaken baby syndrome” defended

Nothing has emerged to cast doubt on the “safety” of
four people’s convictions for harming or killing babies
despite nine days of intense expert debate, Court of Appeal judges
were told today, writes Amy Taylor.

Crown counsel, Richard Horwell, said that the established
position on “shaken baby syndrome” had “not only
been left intact” despite attempts to discredit it, but had
“emerged as a firm medical fact”, not just a
hypothesis.

“No credible evidence has been produced to show that the
established position is flawed, let alone wrong,” he
added.

He said that there was no evidence to support the argument that
the internal head injuries common to many shaken baby cases could
be caused by a minimal use of force.

The established theory of “shaken baby syndrome” is
that these injuries can only be caused by shaking with sufficient
force.

Horwell was responding to attempts by QC Michael Mansfield to
show that Alan Cherry, Lorraine Harris, Raymond Rock and Michael
Faulder were victims of miscarriages of justice.

The case continues.