Woman jailed for murder bailed pending appeal

A mother who has spent six years in jail for murdering her two
children was freed on bail at the Court of Appeal this week after
the prosecution said that it would not be seeking to uphold her
convictions which relied on evidence from paediatrician professor
Roy Meadow, writes Amy Taylor.

Donna Anthony has always claimed that her children died of cot
death but her original appeal in June 2000 was dismissed. However,
last month the Criminal Cases Review Commission said it was sending
her case back to the Court of Appeal after considering “new
expert medical evidence”.  

Her case was one of the 28 referred to the CCRC after the
quashing of the conviction of Angela Cannings last April.

Anthony was jailed for life in 1998 at Bristol Crown Court for
killing her 11-month-old daughter Jordan and four-month old son
Michael.

The prosecution told the High Court judge this week that it
would not be seeking to uphold Anthony’s murder
convictions.

The judge said that in light of the Crown’s concession a
bail application by Anthony “ought to succeed”. But he
told the court that she would remain a convicted murderer at least
until her case is heard by three Appeal Court judges in April.

Despite the Crown’s agreement that her convictions are
unsafe, the judge said that it would be for the Appeal Court to
make its own mind up on whether the jury’s verdicts should be
quashed.