Child death cases may be reopened

A handful of the 258 cases involving people who were convicted for
killing children aged under two may be reopened, the attorney
general confirmed last week.

In a parliamentary statement he said that 97 cases had so far been
reviewed and letters had been sent to five people – two of whom are
serving life sentences – who had been convicted, advising them that
their cases could be looked at by the Court of Appeal or Criminal
Cases Review Commission.

The review was launched earlier this year following the acquittal
of Angela Cannings in December 2003, who was cleared of killing her
babies after expert evidence given by Sir Roy Meadow was
discredited.

Meanwhile, a mother accused of trying to murder her baby son in
1993 because she was said to be suffering from Munchausen’s
Syndrome by Proxy (MSBP) has launched a landmark case in the
Scottish courts.

The appeal against the case, in which two of her children were
taken into care, will challenge the MSPB theory. Massimo Franchi,
lawyer for the mother, said that if she won “every other case of
MSBP could be called into question”.