THE KERAN HENDERSON CASE

Soft Lighting

2008-11-07T13:04:00.000-08:00

Well, I haven't been on this website for what seems ages. That is because nothing has been happening. It all seems to have gone quiet.

Justice for Maeve points out the soft lighting used by Karen and Co. We are "Just a normal family plunged into a nightmare". OK Keran, prove it :).

Even the motor mouth has not been talking about Keran.

Of course, amusingly we note that Panorama who featured this case sometime ago, is currently plunging deep into one libel case after another.

So it has been 6 months or more since the last post. There has been no progress on this case that we can see. All that hoo haa over the media, over Panorama etc :)

Right, see you after Christmas then :). Perhaps Motormouth can tell us about the progress in the courts if there is any.

Failed CNEP Campaigner Admits Smoking Habit

2008-05-02T01:56:00.000-07:00

Today, Penny Mellor admitted to being a " Fag smoking mother". A few months ago on a website far far away, Penny Mellor who has a habit of arguing junk science stated as follows " Caffeine and Nicotine are my favourite drugs"

There was a debate on the Guardian newspapers online. During this debate, Penny Mellor fell right into her own arguing pit. Mellor argued against David Southall.

On the 9th August 2007, Ms Mellor stated the following

"No it isn't but I know that if I or any parent/carer were to deprive a baby or child of oxygen deliberately and used the excuse "I just wanted to see what would happen" we would be, quite rightly, arrested and charged with child abuse. Actually I know parents who were accused of this, even when they hadn't done it"

She then writes

"Your question about smoking in pregancy raises an interesting point. Smoking causes hypoxia in the unborn baby, FSID and other research foundations have published extensively on the dangers of ALTES SIDS brain injury and smoking. If smoking causes SIDS, hypoxia and brain injury then you have argued yourself into a corner, because if just a small amount of oxygen deprivation along with elevated CO 2 is considered to be a huge factor in SIDS, then DELIBERATELY creating hypoxia and then adding huge amounts of CO2 in babies that are already identified as being high risk for SIDS will do what.......?

Thankyou Ms Mellor. So to show Ms Mellor's own habits.

On the 5th June 2005 she stated

"Caffeine and Nicotine are my drugs"

And just to show you all that the children are all there joining in we have this

Posted:

Wed Feb 01, 2006 6:40 pm

Post subject:
Kat take heart with what was sent-it was the CPS who dropped the case-think about who's in charge babe.
Go and get God's Kitchen CD WICKED-dancing around the kitchen makes you feel loads better (fag in one hand and a bud in the other with all the kids joining in) ring u later and play some tunes down the phone! (19 in my head) Still getting the other visions out of my head.....give my special love to Joe and that boy of yours XX
_________________
my tel contact and email:
DARETOCARE1@aol.com

According to Ms Penny Mellor her favourite habit causes the same level of hypoxia as she is accusing Professor Southall of instigating.

Smoking is therefore a deliberate act taken up by Ms Mellor. She was also spotted huffing and puffing away on a ciggie on the MAMA movie. The probability is that this deliberate act of smoking causing a substantial risk to all her pregnancies and children is acceptable to her.

We bring her back to what she has stated " No it isn't but I know that if I or any parent/carer were to deprive a baby or child of oxygen deliberately and used the excuse "I just wanted to see what would happen" we would be, quite rightly, arrested and charged with child abuse. Actually I know parents who were accused of this, even when they hadn't done it"

Should Ms Mellor be "arrested and charged with child abuse" as she has admitted to deliberately depriving oxygen by her deliberate habit of SMOKING? Thankyou Ms Mellor for falling right into that question, head first. Please remind yourself in the future to stop, look and listen to what is being asked of you. It isn't easy having a frazzled nicotine infested brain but I suspect you have to do your best with what you have. It is diametrically opposite to reality.

In summary, perhaps we should cook up a theory about how epilepsy may have been caused by the level of smoking. My question is this, does a good mother opt to smoke in front of her children? My next question is this, does the above apply to the " manipulative Suzanne Holdsworth"?

Suzanne Holdsworth - Verdict Quashed.

2008-05-01T13:18:00.000-07:00

Well, well well, the fag smoking apparent carer of children has got off on a technicality as predicted. The conviction is apparently unsafe. Mind you, I could argue that an alien came down if I rounded up enough experts.

The Crown's defence to the appeal was interesting and probably valid. Actually, I am always of the view that even guilty people deserve a fair trial so if Ms Fag Smoking Ex Crim wants to spend public funds arguing her half baked epileptic theories the second time around, she should. Actually, hopefully she gets thrown into prison for life the second time round.

The BBC stated "A new medical theory which suggests a babysitter was wrongly convicted of killing a toddler is "not credible", the Court of Appeal has heard.". Andrew Robertson, for the Crown, said experts who had advanced the epilepsy theory had left the appeal court "with theories which have no empirical support. Well, the Court of Appeal judged were hoodwinked enough. Must have been the Times and BBC publicity she got before hand. Infact, murderers could use this technique. They could hire a campaigner, pay some experts, get the media on their side [ shed a few tears, bring their families out] and persuade the judged they should go free.

Of course, she is happy about her release.

While she does that, we could postulate on how much cigarrette smoke in the house could have caused the fit that killed the child. Then there is this research about smoking linked to epilepsy.There are a lot of studies regarding that hypothesis. Almost as many as her experts put forward. Of course, the child is dead. Has anyone thought about that? Probably not.

Anyway, a "Child protection expert says it's time to recognize smoking as child abuse". It possibly is.

Penny Mellor and Suzanne Holdsworth of course are smoking mothers. That is child care for you.
In Mellor's usual upside down neuronal networks, she criticises Dr Christopher Rittey. When we look closely at the judgment which Mellor was clearly unable to focus her nicotine filled brain on, we see that the judge stated as follows "Nobody has questioned the integrity of any of these witnesses or their expertise in their respective fields". In addition, "Mr Robertson wove his arguments together in submitting that even if the medical theory were intellectually possible, in deciding whether it affords a credible explanation for Kyle’s death it is necessary to look at the case as a whole".

Of course, in theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice they are not.

As we all love judgments, here it is. You can also download it properly from Bailii.

Neutral Citation Number: [2008] EWCA Crim 971

Case No: 200700774D5

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF JUDICATURE

COURT OF APPEAL (CRIMINAL DIVISION)

ON APPEAL FROM THE CROWN COURT AT TEESSIDE

Grigson J

T20047379

Royal Courts of Justice

Strand, London, WC2A 2LL

Date: 01/05/2008

Before:

THE RT HON LORD JUSTICE TOULSON

MR JUSTICE AIKENS

and

HIS HONOUR JUDGE MICHAEL BAKER QC (SITTING AS A JUDGE OF THE COURT OF APPEAL CRIMINAL DIVISION)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Between:

	R	Respondent
	- and -
	Suzanne Holdsworth	Appellant

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A J Robertson QC and M Connolly for the Respondent

C H Blaxland QCand P Wilcock for the Appellant

Hearing dates: 22-24 April 2008

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Judgment

Lord Justice Toulson :

1. This case arises from the death of Kyle Fisher on 23 July 2004 at the age of 2 years 8 months. Suzanne Holdsworth was convicted of his murder on 8 March 2005 at Teesside Crown Court before Grigson J. No criticism is made of the conduct of the trial, but she applies for leave to appeal and an extension of time for doing so on the basis of fresh medical evidence. Her application was referred to the full court by the registrar. The hearing before us took the same form as a full appeal.

The main characters

2. Kyle lived with his mother, Claire, at 23 Troutpool Close, Hartlepool. She was aged 19 at the time of Kyle’s death.

3. The applicant lived across the road at 3 Millpool Close with her partner and their daughters, Lesley and Jamie Lee, who were then aged 14 and 10. The applicant’s partner was a long distance lorry driver.

4. Claire and Kyle saw quite a lot of the applicant and her daughters. Lesley was much closer in age to Claire than was the applicant, who was then aged 35, and Lesley and Claire became friends. Jamie Lee developed a bond with Kyle. At the time of Kyle’s death the applicant and Claire were on good terms, although there had been periods of hostility between them.

5. Claire’s mother lived nearby but at the time of Kyle’s death she was away on holiday with her partner.

The days leading up to Kyle’s death

6. On Saturday 17 July Claire went with a friend in the evening to a nightclub in Hartlepool. She had been unable to arrange a babysitter and she left Kyle on his own asleep in bed at her mother’s house. The applicant learned about this and told Claire that she would tell her mother when she returned from holiday. Claire was upset and begged her not to do so but the applicant was adamant.

7. On Tuesday 20 July Claire and Lesley went to the cinema leaving Kyle at the applicant’s house in her care. Claire and Lesley left around 5 pm and got back at about 8.30 pm. At the trial there were partially conflicting versions of what happened after that. Claire’s version was that when they arrived back at 3 Millpool Close the applicant was in the garden. Claire asked her how Kyle had been. The applicant told her that he was fine and was in bed. Claire went up stairs to look at him. She opened the bedroom door but did not put on the bedroom light. Kyle was asleep on the floor. She picked him up. He was drowsy but spoke to her. She could not see anything wrong with him and so she put him in bed and went downstairs. She told the applicant that Kyle must have fallen out of bed and then went round to her mother’s house to feed the dog. Within half an hour of leaving she received a phone call from the applicant saying that Kyle had bruises on his head and wanting to know why she had not mentioned them. She said that she had not seen any bruises and asked the applicant how Kyle was. The applicant replied that he was fine and she could hear Kyle laughing in the background. Claire did not go back to look at him and left him there for the night.

8. According to the applicant’s version, when Claire and Lesley arrived back from the cinema she (the applicant) went out for about half an hour. On her return Lesley was in the garden and told her that Kyle had fallen out of bed. She went in the house and asked Claire if Kyle was alright. Claire said that he was. Claire stayed for another hour or two. When later the applicant went up to bed she saw that Kyle was sitting up on his bed. She put the light on and saw that he had bruising on both sides of his head. She immediately rang Claire and was annoyed with her for not having seen and mentioned the bruising. Claire had said that she had not turned the lights on. Lesley gave Kyle a drink. He was fine at this stage, talking and giggling, so she put him back to bed.

9. Lesley’s account supported that of the applicant. She said that after they had returned from the cinema, and her mother had gone out, Claire went up to check on Kyle while Lesley was putting away some gardening tools. Claire was up stairs for about 15 minutes. Eventually Lesley went up to see her and Claire explained that Kyle had fallen out of bed. Lesley supported her mother’s account of later going up to bed and at that stage seeing bruises on Kyle’s head.

10. It was common ground that next morning Claire came round and looked at Kyle. It will be necessary to come back to the witnesses’ description of his condition after whatever happened to him on the Tuesday evening, but all agreed that his behaviour on the Wednesday was normal and that he showed no sign of discomfort, apart from complaining of a poor head when touched with a soft toy in the course of play.

The circumstances surrounding Kyle’s collapse

11. The applicant spent the evening of Wednesday 21 July at bingo with a friend. It had been arranged that when she came back she would look after Kyle so that Claire could go out. Claire gave Kyle his tea at her mother’s house. Sometime about 9 to 9.30 pm a witness, Ellen Ashley, saw Claire and Kyle coming out of Claire’s mother’s house and there was conversation between them about Kyle having banged his head a few times.

12. The applicant arrived back from bingo not long after 10 pm. Claire brought Kyle round to her house in his pyjamas and left soon after 10.15 pm. From that time on the applicant and Kyle were alone in the house.

13. At 11.34 pm the applicant made a 999 call. The conversation began with the applicant saying “Can I have an ambulance straightaway please? I am babysitting for a 2 year old child and he has just gone all floppy…He is not breathing…His eyes are rolling and everything.”

14. The conversation continued for a little over 11 minutes until the ambulance arrived. Kyle was then breathing at a rate of 22 inhalations per minute, which is slightly faster than normal. His pulse was 83, which was normal for a child of his age. His oxygen saturation rate was satisfactory but he was unresponsive and his Glasgow Coma Score was assessed at 3. His eyes were dilated and unresponsive to light. Kyle was taken to the accident and emergency department at Hartlepool Hospital. His condition was plainly very poor and he was transferred to Newcastle General Hospital. There he was seen by Mr Todd, a consultant neurosurgeon, and Dr Devlin, a consultant child neurologist. A CT scan and later a MRI scan were carried out. He was placed in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU). The consultants concluded that he had suffered severe brain stem injury from which he had no chance of survival. On Friday 23 July life support was withdrawn. Subsequently a post mortem examination was conducted by Dr Sunter, a Home Office pathologist.

The applicant’s account

15. The applicant has been consistent in her account of events during the period of more than an hour on the Wednesday evening between Claire leaving Kyle with her and her calling 999. Her account is that during this period Kyle was downstairs with her and was behaving normally. He had some food and a drink and they watched television. He identified characters on the programme. He then became sleepy and started to nod off. She asked if he wanted to go to bed and he said “Susie knackered”, which was a phrase that he had picked up from her. They got up and at that point he had a sudden fit. She carried him to the kitchen and splashed water on his face in the vain hope that this would bring him round. He continued to fit and jerk. She was in a panic and had no idea what was wrong with him. She then laid him on the sofa and dialled 999.

Kyle’s injuries

16. Externally Kyle had a large number of minor marks of a kind which are common in an active toddler. As to these Dr Sunter considered that it would be “unreasonable to read too much into what are after all just multiple trivial bruises”. The bruises which he identified as significant were to the top of the head, both sides of the jaw and both shoulders.

17. He described the bruising to the top of the head as “a complex pattern…consisting of a large area of nondescript deep bruising (measuring 145 mm by 185 mm on the deep aspect of the scalp) and within which there were evident at the skin surface curved linear marks to the right of the mid line and straight linear marks to the left of the mid line.”

18. He considered this to be a very peculiar complex of injury but, having looked at the banisters at 3 Millpool Close, the injury could be accounted for by Kyle’s head being impacted several times against them.

19. He considered that the bruises to the right and left jaw margins and to the tops of the right and left shoulders formed a symmetrical pattern of further peculiar injury and would be consistent with gripping. Putting these features together, he considered that they were indicative of the child being gripped by the neck and shoulders when in a crawling position and having the top of his head struck several times against the banisters.

20. Internally, there was no evidence of any primary injury to any particular part of the brain, such as a bruise or laceration of the brain substance or a fracture, but there was diffuse cerebral odoema and a subdural haemorrhage on the right side. The latter would not have been life threatening, because the amount of blood accumulated (i.e. 38 grams) was not large, but it was an indicator that there had been a blunt force head injury.

The medical evidence at the trial as to the cause of death

21. The prosecution called as witnesses Dr Sunter, Mr Todd and Dr Devlin. The combined effect of their evidence was that Kyle died as a result of a blunt force head injury causing acute cerebral odoema, increased intracranial pressure and irreversible damage to the nerve cells of the brain through disruption of the supply of blood and oxygen. To cause the degree of damage the trauma must have been severe and the symptoms would have become apparent immediately or very soon after the impact, i.e. within minutes. The child would have been immediately unwell and it would have been apparent that the injury was catastrophic within an hour at the outside.

22. If this evidence was accepted by the jury (as it evidently was), it necessarily followed that the trauma must have been inflicted by the applicant, since he had been in her sole custody for over an hour before the 999 call, and her account of Kyle behaving normally until he suddenly had a fit for no apparent reason could not be truthful. The applicant herself gave evidence and was naturally cross-examined on that basis.

23. No medical evidence was called on her behalf. Mr Blaxland QC told the court that reports had been obtained from a number of experts whose specialities included forensic pathology and paediatric neurology, but none of their reports provided the defence with any basis for challenging the prosecution’s medical evidence.

The fresh medical evidence

24. Prior to the hearing the applicant issued notices of application to call 5 expert witnesses whose reports were disclosed. In the event Mr Blaxland decided to rely on only 3 of them and we heard evidence de bene esse from those witnesses. They were Professor Guerrini, who is a clinical professor of paediatric neurology at the University of Florence (and formerly professor of paediatric neurology and consultant paediatric neurologist at Great Ormond Street hospital); Dr Anslow, who is a consultant neuro-radiologist at the Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford; and Dr Squier, who is a consultant neuro-pathologist at the Radcliffe Infirmary. The prosecution called evidence from Dr Rittey, who is a consultant paediatric neurologist at the Ryegate Children’s Centre (part of Sheffield Children’s NHS Foundation Trust), and Professor Milroy, who is a professor of forensic pathology at the University of Sheffield and a consultant pathologist to the Home Office. (Professor Milroy was instructed by the prosecution because Dr Sunter has died). Nobody has questioned the integrity of any of these witnesses or their expertise in their respective fields.

25. The theory of the causation of Kyle’s death advanced on behalf of the applicant contains a number of strands, but Mr Robertson QC on behalf of the prosecution argued forcibly, and with justification, that the prosecution has been faced with a moving target when addressing the question how these different strands cohere into a unified theory. As the appeal hearing went on there was a process of intellectual debate between the experts, and the final presentation of the appellant’s case only became fully apparent when Professor Guerrini was re-called (at the court’s suggestion) after Dr Rittey had given evidence. The defence made the point that this was a case with a number of complex factors and that it may not be possible to be precise as to the interaction of the various factors. Be that as it may, with the benefit of hindsight it would have been better if experts of like discipline had been in direct contact with one another before the hearing in order to consider together the points advanced by one another and to produce a summary of points of agreement and disagreement with a summary of their reasons for disagreement.

26. The explanation for Kyle’s death suggested as a possibility by the applicant’s expert witnesses can be summarised as follows:

1. Kyle suffered from a number of pre-existing brain abnormalities which predisposed him to an epileptic seizure.

2. Kyle may also have suffered from a subdural haemorrhage as a result of whatever had happened prior to the Wednesday evening, although this is not an essential part of the theory. If so, that would have been an additional predisposing factor for an epileptic seizure.

3. The description given by the applicant during the 999 call was a description of an epileptic seizure.

4. The seizure may have led to the hypoxic ischaemic brain damage (i.e. cerebral odoema, rise in intracranial pressure and starvation of blood and oxygen to the brain cells).

27. The applicant’s case is that if that is a credible medical explanation, her conviction must be unsafe, because the medical evidence was the foundation of the case against her. Mr Robertson submitted that the fresh medical evidence is irrelevant because there was an unanswerable case that Kyle suffered some trauma while in the custody of the applicant on the Wednesday evening, independent of the opinion of the prosecution’s medical experts that the injuries from which he was suffering on his admission to hospital must have been caused within an hour prior to his collapse. Mr Robertson made it clear that this was his primary submission. He also submitted that the medical theory advanced on the applicant’s behalf is not credible for reasons explained by Dr Rittey. Mr Robertson wove his arguments together in submitting that even if the medical theory were intellectually possible, in deciding whether it affords a credible explanation for Kyle’s death it is necessary to look at the case as a whole.

28. Professor Guerrini’s report also raised the possibility that the injuries observed on Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning may have been caused by Kyle suffering an epileptic seizure in which he was thrown out of bed on the Tuesday evening. Mr Blaxland did not rely on this suggestion for the purpose of the present appeal, because for that purpose it did not matter how Kyle’s Tuesday evening injuries were sustained. Although the prosecution had put it to the applicant in cross-examination that she had injured Kyle on the Tuesday, the murder charge was based on the allegation that the applicant inflicted fresh trauma on the Wednesday evening and Mr Robertson told the jury in his opening speech (according to his written note) that “whatever happened on the Tuesday night is totally irrelevant when considering how Kyle’s fatal injury was caused and by whom”. Mr Robertson properly maintained that position on the appeal.

The relevance of the medical evidence: other circumstantial evidence

29. Mr Robertson’s submission that there was an unanswerable case that Kyle suffered trauma while in the custody of the applicant on the Wednesday evening, independent of the opinion of the prosecution’s medical experts that the injuries from which he was suffering on his admission to hospital must have been caused within an hour prior to his collapse, depends on circumstantial evidence. The first point to note is that if this evidence had been put to the jury as a foundation for inferring that the applicant injured Kyle on the Wednesday evening, the judge would have been required to give the jury a full and careful warning about the proper approach to circumstantial evidence. However it is clear from the opening note of the prosecution for the trial that the case was not put this way. That is reinforced by the fact that the very experienced judge did not give such a direction. He clearly (and rightly) did not see this circumstantial evidence as a material, let alone important, part of the prosecution’s case for finding that the applicant inflicted the fatal injury.

30. In the early part of his summing-up the judge referred to evidence which the jury had heard about the character of the applicant and Claire before summarising the issues which the jury had to decide. There had been evidence that the applicant was a mature woman and experienced with children but also evidence of a loss of temper on occasions. The judge turned from that general evidence to the matters which the prosecution had to prove. He said:

“The first crucial issue in this case is whether the prosecution have proved that it was Mrs Holdsworth who inflicted the fatal injury, and this evidence which lawyers called propensity evidence, evidence as to bad temper on the one side, evidence as to her patience and skill on the other, goes to that issue. She is on the face of it an unlikely candidate, but at the end of the day, and this is a matter for you, you may think the important evidence comes from the doctors.”

That evidence from the doctors was all one way.

31. At the trial both sides proceeded on the basis that there must have been some additional trauma after the Tuesday night, for which the applicant and Claire each denied responsibility. In summarising the evidence the judge reminded the jury of the two accounts of events over the preceding days which formed the background to the events on the Wednesday evening. The jury may have formed an adverse view of the applicant’s credibility in relation to those events or they may have disbelieved the applicant simply on the basis of the medical evidence. The judge gave the jury a Lucas direction but nowhere in the summing-up did he suggest that the jury might rely on inferences from evidence relating to the period prior to the handover of Kyle on the Wednesday evening as circumstantial evidence from which they might infer that the applicant inflicted the fatal injury.

32. The principal matter on which the prosecution relies in support of its argument that there was an unanswerable case against the applicant quite apart from the medical evidence is the alleged appearance of fresh marks after Kyle’s admission to hospital as compared with his appearance earlier on Wednesday at the applicant’s home. It was accepted by Mr Robertson that if there were such fresh marks, there is no direct evidence when and where they were inflicted. But he submitted to us that the inescapable inference must be that those marks were caused by injuries caused by the applicant between 10.15 and 11.34 pm on the Wednesday evening.

33. This topic brings us back to the descriptions of Kyle’s condition after the events of Tuesday evening.

34. Mr Robertson relied primarily on answers given by the applicant when first interviewed by the police and in cross-examination. When first interviewed by the police, the applicant said that after the incident on the Tuesday evening she saw that Kyle had purple bruising in a straight line on the left side of his head. She made no mention of any mark on the right side. On 25 July she was interviewed after she had been arrested for Kyle’s murder. During the interview she was shown photographs of the bruising on Kyle’s head and was asked if those were the injuries which she had noticed on the Tuesday. She said that they were and that looking at the photographs made her remember that there was bruising on both sides. She had only seen the bruising on the right side when Lesley had lifted Kyle’s hair up and drawn her attention to it.

35. Mr Robertson also relied on the following answers in cross-examination:

Q. Now, are you saying, Mrs Holdsworth, that the injuries after the Wednesday night were exactly the same as on the Tuesday night?

A. Not on the photograph when she showed me it, no.

Q. No. What you saw on the photograph was different from what you noticed on Kyle’s head from the Tuesday night? That’s right, isn’t it?

A. On the Tuesday night when I looked at Kyle’s head they looked straight.

Q. Yes. They were different from the bruises that you saw on the photographs…

A. Yes.

Q. …taken after the Wednesday night?

A. The photographs were larger than…

36. That evidence cannot fairly be taken as an admission or basis for a finding that Kyle had more marks after he was handed over to the applicant on the Wednesday evening than at the time when he was handed over. The applicant’s evidence on that was to the contrary. The change in her answers to questions from the police before and after being shown the photographs could be regarded as reducing her credibility, but it does not go further than that. The fact that bruising on the photographs appeared larger than she remembered might have various explanations.

37. Claire Fisher said in her witness statement that on the Wednesday morning she was worried about Kyle’s bruises and so went to see him. She was shocked by what she saw. There was dark purple bruising on both sides of his head. On the right side there was a straight line as if he had hit his head against something straight. On the other side there were a number of bruises, dark purple in colour, not in a line, lower down than those on the right side of his head and nearer the front. When she saw Kyle at Hartlepool Hospital she could not see any other marks or bruises on him than she had seen on the Wednesday morning. Later in the PICU at Newcastle General Infirmary she noticed that he had a little bruise under his chin which she had not previously seen. She confirmed that statement in her evidence at the trial.

38. If the scallop shaped bruising on the right side of the head had been new bruising, caused by the applicant repeatedly striking Kyle’s head against the banisters, it is a pertinent question why Claire failed to recognise this as fresh bruising at a time when she identified the small mark on the chin, which the prosecution say was a grip mark. Moreover it was the prosecution’s suggestion that the scallop shaped bruising on the right and the straight line bruising on the left were caused simultaneously by Kyle’s head being thrust between the banisters (and it was their combination which Dr Sunter considered to be a particularly unusual pattern). That is hard to reconcile with Claire’s evidence of seeing the straight line bruise on the Wednesday morning. Mr Robertson properly acknowledged that this was something which weakened the force of Dr Sunter’s opinion that those marks were caused together.

39. Ellen Ashley’s evidence was that when she met Claire outside Claire’s mother’s house on the Wednesday evening Claire told her that Kyle had banged his head a few times. She did not say where or when it happened but said that he had done it that day. As Claire spoke she indicated with her hands to each side of Kyle’s temples.

40. The prosecution also relied on evidence of lies by the applicant. When first interviewed by the police, the applicant, Claire and Lesley all lied about where Claire had spent Tuesday night. They said that she had spent the night at the applicant’s home. The idea of telling this false story first came from the applicant. She claimed that her motive was to protect Claire. The medical staff at the hospital had said that social services were going to be involved. The applicant said that she thought that it might look bad for Claire that on the Tuesday night she had not come to look at Kyle and take care of him after he had hurt himself. The prosecution submitted that the object of the lie was to enable the applicant to accuse Claire of causing injuries to Kyle on the Tuesday evening, which had in truth had been caused by the applicant. The prosecution also suggested that the applicant and Lesley were continuing to lie in saying that on the Tuesday the applicant had gone out after Claire and Lesley had returned from the cinema, and in Lesley saying that Claire had been on her own upstairs with Kyle for 15 minutes, thereby creating a window of opportunity for Claire to have injured Kyle. If that were right, it would provide material to support a case that the applicant had injured Kyle on the Tuesday evening; it was not evidence of the infliction of fresh trauma on the Wednesday.

41. Put shortly, we have concluded that none of the circumstantial factual evidence provided a basis independent of the medical evidence for a finding that fresh trauma was inflicted after the applicant took charge of Kyle on the Wednesday evening. Even if we had concluded otherwise, the weight of such evidence would have had to be evaluated along with other factors (including the likelihood of the applicant behaving in such a way and the likelihood of Kyle showing no sign of fear or anxiety in her presence on the Wednesday if she had inflicted bruises on him on the previous evening). It would not have been possible for this court satisfactorily to carry out that kind of primary evaluation simply from a reading of the transcript and the court documents. It would have been an exercise for the jury on a proper direction.

42. In this case the effect of the medical evidence was to turn what was otherwise no more than a case of opportunity to commit a fatal assault into a certainty, if the jury accepted (as they plainly did) the opinion of the prosecution’s medical experts about the conclusions which could be drawn from Kyle’s injuries. In these circumstances the safety of the applicant’s conviction depends on whether there was a credible alternative medical explanation consistent with the applicant’s account of events.

The medical issue

43. At the outset it is worth noting certain negatives which were apparent from Dr Sunter’s report and were highlighted by Dr Anslow. There was no evidence of any brain bruise. There was brain swelling, but that is a different matter. There was also no evidence of any scalp haematoma or scalp swelling. There was evidence that there had been trauma, because there were the external bruise marks identified by Dr Sunter and there was a subdural haematoma. But medically neither the bruise marks nor the subdural haematoma could in themselves be dated to any particular time. Dr Sunter accepted at the trial that he could not exclude the possibility that the subdural haematoma had been caused on the Tuesday. He said in cross-examination:

“With a subdural haemorrhage you can’t say the injury took [place] so many hours ago, so many days ago. It’s a guess”.

In the case of a subdural haematoma the accumulation of blood may be slow and in the meantime the individual may behave quite normally.

44. So it was not possible to identify primary medical evidence of a necessarily fresh injury. The cerebral oedema was secondary to something, and the question was what was that something. The prosecution’s case was that the only sensible inference was that it was secondary to significant trauma, and, if so, that the trauma must have been very recently inflicted, enabling the jury to find that the applicant’s account of events must be false.

45. It is in that context that the alternative medical explanation falls to be considered.

46. We return to the four propositions set out in paragraph 26 by way of summary of the alternative medical theory.

47. As to the first, it is accepted that Kyle suffered from a number of pre-existing brain abnormalities which predisposed him to an epileptic seizure. He had an abnormally large brain, nodules of ectopic neurones capable of generating epileptic activity and a scar involving the cerebral cortex as a result of previous trauma. These factors would have caused him to have an over 80% risk of exhibiting epileptic seizures.

48. As to the second, it is accepted as medically possible that the subdural haemorrhage resulted from whatever happened on the Tuesday and, if so, that this would have been an additional pre-disposing factor to epileptic seizure.

49. As to the third, the seizure described by the applicant during the 999 call may have been either clonic or tonic. Dr Rittey considered that it was likely to have been a tonic seizure resulting from brain stem compression, but he accepted the possibility that it was an epileptic seizure, which was Professor Guerrini’s opinion.

50. That leaves the critical issue whether it is a credible medical theory that the seizure may have led to hypoxic ischemic brain damage.

51. Professor Guerrini stressed that we do not know as a fact what were the dynamics of the relevant factors. Epileptic activity may affect a lone area of the brain or a combination of networks or the whole brain. During an epileptic seizure the vastly increased neural activity means that the patient will require a greatly increased amount of oxygen and blood in the brain. If Kyle already had a subdural haemorrhage, the drainage of blood and CSF may have been imperfect. 11 minutes or more was a long time for a clonic seizure during which he may have suffered a period of apnoea. In Professor Guerrini’s opinion it was possible that this caused cerebral oedema resulting in severe hypoxic ischemic brain damage.

52. Dr Rittey considered this explanation to be untenable. When proper account is taken of the recorded facts about Kyle’s condition at the time of the arrival of the ambulance and on Kyle’s admission to hospital, Dr Rittey did not consider that the suggested train of events and explanation had a sound theoretical basis. Further, it was unsupported by any empirical evidence to be found in the medical literature.

53. As to the theoretical argument, Dr Rittey argued that if the severe brain damage occurred during the seizure while Kyle was not breathing, it was inconceivable that he could have then started breathing again. Yet his rate of breathing and pulse were normal when the ambulance arrived. The fact that Kyle was unresponsive and his eyes were fixed confirmed that he had suffered very severe brain damage, which must have been a result of the trauma which pre-dated any seizure. Dr Rittey also argued that on the alternative theory Kyle must have been severely acidotic, but that blood taken on his arrival at hospital showed that he was not acidotic. As to the empirical evidence, Dr Rittey emphasised that there was no case reported in the medical literature of a seizure as short as 11 minutes causing damage of the severity suffered by Kyle. Insofar as Professor Guerrini had referred to papers in support of the suggestion that Kyle could have died as a result of the seizure, the cases reviewed in those papers were quite different from the present case, and Dr Rittey was critical of the way in which Professor Guerrini had sought to rely on that literature.

54. On the matter of breathing and pulse, Professor Guerrini responded that the centre which regulates respiration is at two levels in the brain, mid and lower. You could therefore have a situation in which the seizure activity in the brain stopped the individual from voluntary control of breathing, but at the end of that activity normal, but involuntary breathing and heartbeat could resume, because the oedema had not yet had fully affected the brain stem. As to the lack of response of the pupils to light, Professor Guerrini agreed when first cross-examined that if Kyle was in a post-convulsive coma when the ambulance arrived, his eyes should have been responsive to light. When re-called to give further evidence, he said that the response to light could have been affected if the oedema at that stage had been severe enough to affect the mid part but not the lower part of the brain stem. This was a new development and Mr Robertson was critical of the way in which it was advanced. As to acidosis, Professor Guerrini said that there is a chemical barrier such that the acidosis in the brain would not have been matched by corresponding acidosis elsewhere in the body. He made the point that on the prosecution’s own theory there had been acute hypoxic ischemic injury to the brain and that on either theory the acidosis would have been the same. The issue which divided the experts was what may have caused the hypoxic ischemic injury.

55. On the matter of empirical evidence, Professor Guerrini observed that in a clinical situation a patient would never be allowed to continue fitting for more than 5 minutes without medical intervention and therefore you would not have medical studies of people undergoing seizures of the length in the present case. Where patients died as a result of such a seizure, it would be away from hospital. He emphasised that although death during a seizure is rare, it does happen and there will not necessarily be a post-mortem. Speaking in general terms, Professor Guerrini said that his theory is one of the main theories advanced to explain sudden death in epilepsy. In this case the possible co-existence of a subdural haemorrhage would have been an unusual complicating feature. Dr Squire made the point tersely when she said that she had never seen a paper which considered the effect of seizure in the context of subdural haematoma.

Conclusion

56. Dr Rittey acknowledged that Professor Guerrini is an internationally acclaimed expert in epilepsy and that any theory advanced by him on this subject is entitled to very careful consideration.

57. Conclusions of medical experts on the cause of an injury or death necessarily involve a process of deduction, that is inferring conclusions from given facts based on other knowledge and experience. But particular caution is needed where the scientific knowledge of the process or processes involved is or may be incomplete. As knowledge increases, today’s orthodoxy may become tomorrow’s outdated learning. Special caution is also needed where expert opinion evidence is not just relied upon as additional material to support a prosecution but is fundamental to it.

58. With these considerations in mind, we have concluded that the interests of justice make it necessary that we should admit the fresh medical evidence adduced by the applicant under s 23 of the Criminal Appeal Act 1968. Having listened to the oral evidence called on both sides and evaluated it in the context of the case as a whole, we do not consider that we can safely dismiss the medical scenario advanced on the applicant’s behalf as definitely incredible. In R v Pendleton [2002] 1WLR 72 Lord Bingham commended it as wise for the Court of Appeal in a case of any difficulty to test their own provisional view by asking whether the evidence, if given at the trial, might reasonably have affected the decision of the trial jury to convict (paragraph 19). In our judgment it might, and therefore the conviction must be judged unsafe.

59. For those reasons we grant permission to appeal and quash the applicant’s conviction for murder. We add as a postscript that any re-trial will require a high level of case management. We draw attention, in particular, to the observations of this court in R v Harris [2006] 1 Cr App R 5, at paragraph 273, regarding the powers of the court to make provision for experts to consult together and, if possible, agree points of agreement or disagreement with a summary of reasons.

Publicly Influencing Appeals

2008-04-21T03:59:00.001-07:00

Smoking a Fag - its all about high standards of child care

The David Southall Exposed site cited the case of Suzanne Holdsworth. I knew nothing about Suzanne but I didn't have to. I guessed the pathologist would be Waney Squier just as it was in the Henderson case, I guessed the reporter would be John Sweeney saviour of all potentially guilty mothers. John Sweeney whose own competence in reporting was questioned by Ofcom. But John Sweeney really does not like talking about these things. Given Sweeney's slipshod work in the Ofcom complaint, I wonder what other surprises he has in store for us. Sweeney tries desperately to be a scientist but in the end he is just a journalist and apart from his head on collision with Scientology, it is admirable that he may be contributing to their agenda.

And here is old John Sweeney doing his best to persuade the world.

This is what it said " Suzanne Holdsworth, from Hartlepool, is serving life after a court was told she smashed Kyle Fisher against a banister with as much force as a 60mph crash.The two-year-old died in hospital with a massively swollen brain but only some bruising on the outside of his head"Again, like the Karen Henderson case, John Sweeney fails to tell us what the judgment says. Indeed, everyone fails to tell us what the judgment stated.

Then we all look at the fag smoking criminal and wonder whether she does indeed look innocent or not. She has the same look at the campaigner currently assisting her. The one who has assisted Karen Henderson. Both smoke yet claim to watch out for the welfare of children. Smoking has long been known to harm child health.

Mr Justice Grigson told her at Leeds Crown Court: "The evidence was clear that you must have rammed his head against the railings of the banister in your home. "He was vulnerable and he was in your care. I accept that you did not intend to kill him but to cause him serious bodily harm.

"However, Nicholas Todd, a consultant neurosurgeon, said that the child’s injuries were so severe that he would not have been able to stand, talk or grip"

"Detective Superintendent Tony Hutchinson, who led the investigation, described Holdsworth as “manipulative”. He said: “She must have known very quickly that she had inflicted serious damage on Kyle and, while she called for medical assistance, she very quickly began to manipulate the system. At the end of the day this was the abuse of a two-year-old defenceless child with such severity as to cause fatal injury.

Her appeal date is set and "Lee Spencer, her long-term partner, says legal advisors, including Campbell Malone from Wigan-based Stephensons Solicitors, believe medical evidence will finally clear her". In summary, Penny Mellor's links with this case are as follows, she has now advertised the forthcoming programme on Newsnight. She is well acquainted with Campbell Malone. She states "Thanks too go to Campbell Malone and unnamed paediatricians, doctors and biomechanics in the UK for their work in this area".

Of course, Campbell Malone isn't perfect. Infact, we can view his standard of work in Kavanagh.

Kavanagh was an innocent man but Campbell knows exactly what happened. Indeed, there were no bells and whistles in the media for this innocent man. Newsnight, Panorama or the BBC were not interested. Kavanagh was later found dead in his prison cell with a bible in his hand. Everyone was of the view that Malone failed him. That was just a view that may well have been correct. Legal aid was had, case law was argued and in the end the man is dead.

Back to Holdsworth, she claimed " During the trail, she claimed Kyle suffered a fit and that his injuries must have been sustained before he came into her care.But a Teesside Crown Court jury heard medical evidence that showed the injuries he received were consistent with his head being hit against a wooden bannister"

And look what Karen Henderson [ also linked to Penny Mellor] claimed Maeve had a fit as well.A lot of fits are happening in the world aren't there? A fit here and a fit there - every baby who has its head bashed in seems to have had a fit. It seems to be the defence that is passed around all the prisons as a "get out clause". Perhaps its a bit like this " Ah the baby is dead, what can I claim, I know everyone else defends themselves by saying its a fit, lets do it too". After we have done that, lets all go to the media so our appeal judges are influenced by the media speculation"

So, the Dream Team are now campaigning to get potential child abusers out of prison. Isn't that what the aim of Scientology is? Surely not. As predicted, as the UK is now fond of letting child abusers out of prison, there is a shock increase in violence against children.

Could it be that there are now more child abusers out there instead of in prison than the UK government would have us believe? By the sheer nature of her associations, I am of the view that Holdsworth is guilty. She might get off on a technicality but a life sentence is not easy to overturn. While she smokes that fag of hers in prison, we should all go by the good detectives view - that she is now manipulating the situation just like the campaigner she is associated with.

Just remember, the next time your baby's head is bashed in, your child minder can claim they had a fit and the world will believe them. Afterall, everyone believes in the media.

Bill Bache Under Fire

2008-03-31T05:46:00.000-07:00

An email filtered to me today as many do. It was from a very famous campaigning group in family law matters.

It stated as follows "A number of people have been contacting us over the last six months after being or feeling let down by Bill Bache and his office" 31 Mar 2008 08:31

The numbers seem to be building up don't they Billy Boy? Sporting the silk handkerchief in his top pocket just isn't enough anymore.

Charles Dickens viewed lawyers as being mean, cruel, and relatively heartless (Collins 175). Dickens felt that lawyers were overly concerned with power and not concerned enough about truth.For Jaggers, power is not about helping the little man for charitable purposes. Dickens seems to suggest here ideas about how power has corrupted the intentions of lawyers, people who are in a position to help those in need. Dickens also felt that, far too often, lawyers worked for their own personal gain. For lawyers of the time, manipulating the truth was very much similar to never having to put forth their own definite opinion.

In 2008 there are good lawyers in the world. Bill Bache though has been under fire from his own clients of late. His associations with the criminal mind ex convicted felon cannot be doing his reputation much good. But as he says, she can do all he can't. It also goes to show how low this lawyer will stoop to win his cases. He certainly has absolutely no problems in using the media to further his cases.

The Henderson Bandwagon - Scientology Award Winner and Anti Child Protection Campaigner

2008-03-11T02:43:00.000-07:00

Currently involved in campaigning

to free a guilty woman called Keran Henderson.

Maeve Sheppard died from massive head injuries, an over-extended neck (snapped), blind, bleeding of the brain and eyes, a haemorrage (all consistent with SBS), she lay in a morgue for 2 months while doctors did tests to rule out anything other than SBS [ Shaken Baby Syndrome]. In November 2007, it was ruled that Keran Henderson was guilty of manslaughter.

The above campaigner states that Keran Henderson is innocent. The media believes her.

Judgment related to the above [March 2002] can be read here.

Powerfully Written by Justice4Maeve

2008-03-10T13:04:00.000-07:00

I don't think anyone could have said it better than Justice4Maeve today.

Imagine says it all in plain English. The piece ends with the following paragraph :-

"Your child died from massive head injuries, an over-extended neck (snapped), blind, bleeding of the brain and eyes, a haemorrage (all consistent with SBS), she lay in a morgue for 2 months while doctors did tests to rule out anything other than SBS and yet I still say I am innocent.NOW WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE? SHOULD I BE FREE TO GO HOME TO MY CHILDREN?"

Justice4Maeve writes out the case better than any of us [ medically trained or otherwise]

John Hemming MP and Scientific Theories

2008-03-10T09:04:00.000-07:00

I note the Petition Title "The petition was asking for ‘a change in the process which allows wrongful convictions based solely on unscientifically proven theories’. The group met Beaconsfield MP Dominic Grieve and MP John Hemming outside Parliament before setting off to the Ministry of Justice in Victoria Street, and then on to Downing Street, to hand over the petition"

So what do they mean by "unscientifically proven theories"? Do they mean biomechanical experiments that have not been peer reviewed or proven as a theory? :). These words just fall out of good old Mr Henderson and his team's mouth without giving it a single thought. Has anyone thought what Mr Henderson and his team means by these sentences? I don't think even he knows. Of course, what they mean is theories that have not been proven :). What they have written of course is something completely ambiguous.

Not so long ago, Mr Hemming was asked about the Scientific basis of the oxygen dissociation curve. He failed to respond to this. He was then asked on the Guardian about cyanosis in children and how they survived, he failed to tell us what the scientific basis of that was. It is of course nice timing on his front for some soundbites given the Liberal Dimocrats are having a conference :).

Nicely coordinated to maximise the publicity for Panorama too :).

In truth, Mr Hemming hasn't a remote clue about paediatrics or neonatology. That is what no one knows what the petition means either.

The article soundbites also neatly stated "AN appeal against the manslaughter conviction of a childminder has been submitted to the High Court"

Wow, I wonder how many other innocent poor souls put in their appeals this week with no media coverage at all.

The Henderson Campaign - The Pink Lady Talks Back

2008-03-10T08:28:00.000-07:00

Following on from the posting on Sheila's Wheels below :-

Of course, accuracy is important in all things in the world. The title of the PINK blog is this "Keran Henderson Shaken Baby and unsafe convictions". It does not make any mention in the title of Maeve Sheppard. Sheila currently states that the reason for the choice of colour was "Maeve" as she was a little girl. In reality, the majority of the postings on the PINK website is about a grown up called Keran Henderson who currently basks in the sunshine of the media's glare parading the fact she is apparently innocent as the driven snow. We might as well have the Keran Henderson Talk Show now. I mean we have had everything else haven't we? Are we going to have Keran Henderson mugs, teeshirts, car stickers now?

The blatant truth is this, if Sheila gave a damn about Maeve Sheppard or her family, she would not be parading the naked misconceptions of how innocent Keran Henderson is. If she had any remote amount of decency, she would stop telling us the public what we should think and she would opt to present the transcripts and the judgment on her website [ plus ALL Expert reports] so that we can all assess the truthfulness of the situation. Of course, no one will give us that information certainly not the Henderson campaign. Why should we believe Keran is innocent anyway? There isn't a remote piece of evidence that shows us she is innocent. So, the Henderson campaign is going to prove 12 experts wrong eh? [ thats multidisciplinary experts as well]. Now that is a tall order.

No person in their right mind would drag Mr and Mrs Sheppard through this media turmoil apart from Sheila herself. Where does the blame lie for the media bandwagon - it lies with the Dream Team. The Pink website and the repercussions have forced poor Mr and Mrs Sheppard to defend their case. As private people, I doubt they like the publicity bandwagon being shone on them in this way - to have their privacy invaded yet again when all they wanted to do was to get on with their lives. The Henderson Campaign's hunger for the media generated publicity to influence the appeal is an embarrassment to the campaign and their legal team. Parading the bio mechanics study as the forefront of opening other appeals - I mean, what a load of rubbish from people who don't even understand how science works. Yes, its all presented nicely for the gullible public who will believe whatever is in front of them because they don't know any better. Infact, Ofcom should look at the Panorama programme in great detail.

My advice - lets take all the blogs down, lets stop the media publicity and let the Henderson team continue their appeal/permission to appeal quietly [ through the courts] without dragging the Sheppards through this media bandwagon. Infact, it may even be an idea for me to write to the appeal judges outlining exactly what has been happening here in terms of running appeal cases through the media first before the courts.

Of course, no one will like my idea because its not good for the Henderson Campaign is it? All that money gained from the public by way of donations and we still don't have a breakdown do we. It would be a great shame if the public were blinded by a guilty woman. Mind you, even the guilty win appeals on a technicality. It is the shame that more innocent people don't get the same breaks in life.

Sheila's Wheels Falling Off the Henderson Bandwagon

2008-03-09T14:44:00.000-07:00

There is a PINK blog supporting the Hendersons floating in cyberspace. The problem with pink plus the lack of justification for text design is the catastrophic failure at any artistry. This failure in her ability to use a simple thing like http://www.blogger.com/ properly raises questions about the content of the Sheila's Wheel's website. Can she manage anything more complex? No blogger would be seen dead in a pink template but I suspect Sheila would not know that. Then I suspect this is a Barbie world where the public is duped into thinking a guilty woman is innocent.

It sports the phrase " The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie -- deliberate, contrived and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought. John F. Kennedy 35th president of US 1961-1963 (1917 - 1963)". It would be good if Sheila believed in the same ethos.

Of course, intelligence has nothing to do with qualifications, it has everything to do with logic, analysis and conclusions. Take http://www.maeve4justice.blogspot.com/ - intelligent, witty, analytical, has the ability to learn. Hilda creates a blog that is more successful than all Sheila's blogs over the last year. She also doesn't depend on surgeons to justify her views. Infact, she doesn't need to - because Maeve4Justice has conviction where she is able to make the audience believe in her honesty and decency. Nevertheless, I doubt anyone would take Sheila's pink blog seriously really. Well, journalists might but they are tunnel visioned anyway. It is PINK afterall.

Luckily, the Pink Lady muses about Panorama so here is what the great John Sweeney has to say :-

"That day she rang 999 and said: "I've got a baby - I can't get breaths into her. She's just taking little breaths but not much, she's like semi-unconscious at the moment"

Any mention of a FIT here or was just for the " hearing show" then?

"The majority of experts at the Henderson trial gave evidence to the effect that she must have done it. Home Office pathologist Dr Nat Cary told the jury: "There are features in this case that would suggest that there has been a great degree of force." Professor John Elston, an eye specialist, said: "I think it was most likely caused by shaking."

I believe that was 12 experts who had the FULL FACTS of the case in front of them.

As for false accusations, Sheila has made a ton of false accusations against many many doctors over the years since she was awarded the Scientology Award. I believe John Sweeney missed the obvious Scientology award that remained just underneath is nose. He is a journalist who talked about the dangers of Scientology for Panorama. Shame he hasn't spotted the dangers of Scientology on Child Protection but then he is only a journalist with no lateral vision . Then there is of course the minor issue of the Ofcom report involving John Sweeney [Today, BBC Radio 4 and Breakfast, BBC Radio Five Live, 13 January 2004]. No doubt, John Sweeney will remember it well. A reflection of his reporting ability no doubt. John has been involved in near enough most documentary pieces where he has undermined the work of child protection professionals.

The Daily Mail article though amused me. It points to an amusing biomechanics study. By the way, I have done biomechanics :) and we all know that the judgment must be made upon the case in question - on the history and clinical findings - not just biomechanics. It is a bit like the CAD CAM hip - perfect bio mechanically but in real life they always go for the tried and tested ones with long term positive studies to their name. In any case, has our man in biomechanics had his paper peer reviewed :). Did John " Ofcom" Sweeney check that then? If we really want to see foreign expert embarrassment, we have to go to a tale many years ago by man called called Jim Sprott. The BMJ UK review gave it one star. Sprott was the rage in the UK at one point then the Department of Health happened to him. The BBC stated "A new government report has dismissed any connection between cot death and a chemical found in babies' mattresses". So there we have it. Just to show that the UK does not always follow those abroad. Another example is the MMR and Autism link. No matter what studies abroad show a link, the UK scientific community does not accept it and therefore by default it will not be accepted in any court in the land. The identical principle applies to Shaken Baby Syndrome.

So its all very well quoting specialists from the world over including the Arctic but if there is no UK mainstream established backing from the Scientific Community for the theory then it ain't gonna work. Everyone is aware of the Expert Witness guidance in the UK. All research has to be sound and not a "one off". I see no specialists [ paediatricians in the UK] disputing Shaken Baby Syndrome.

Of course, this clever media run appeal may work in public by blinding them and the Daily Mail with all this science but it doesn't blind us and it won't wash with the courts. This obviously has shades of an concerted effort by a group to disprove all causes of child abuse. First the effort to undermine Munchhausen's By Proxy and now to undermine Shaken Baby Syndrome. Interesting isn't it? Soon, all the abusers will be let out into the community to do more of what they have always done. Now, I wonder where child protection stands within that equation.

As it stands, the majority of experts [12] are against Keran Henderson's case. She has no UK specialist/expert backing her "theory" at this point. Anyway 10/10 to the Henderson Campaign and Panorama for attempting to make a half baked theory stand :). Please try harder next time boys :). This is though the best I have seen of " appeal by media".

As for John Sweeney, it would be poetic justice for the Scientologists if he inadvertently assisted their agenda. John though has a temper as exhibited on Panorama sometime ago :). Slightly intemperate I would say!

Strength of Character

2008-03-08T06:45:00.000-08:00

Accepting Donations while Claiming Innocence

[ Jury Verdict - Guilty as Charged]

Iain Henderson crowed to the Buckinghamshire Advertiser. He told them " There are always nasty comments on that website which are completely needless and very often wrong. The person who is running it does not even have the strength of character to say who they are so I don't want to respond to comments they make."

Of course, Iain makes no response to all the questions asked on this blog showing the quality of his own strength of character. By the way, I have advised Justice4Maeve to keep her anonymity because we don't want those harassers involved with the Henderson campaign to make life hell for her. Justice4Maeve asks some vital questions. It is interesting that Ian Henderson does not like challenge and opts to undermine this legitimate blog that had the guts to ask the relevant questions.

While Mr Henderson speaks of "strength of character", can he tells us [ the legitimate thinkers in the public] what the breakdown of the donations is? This question has been asked repeatedly but its all been silence in the bloggers court. We can only assume that Mr Henderson feels threatened by the new challenge by Justice4Maeve, a fearless woman who started to question and go where no one dared to. I admire her anyway. If it were not for Justice4Maeve, I would not have put my thinking cap on and applied it to the spin campaign constructed by Ian Henderson. It is also excellent to see Justice4Maeve return in full force with some excellent graphics and some brilliant ideas.

So Mr Henderson [ ex police] lets see the breakdown of the donations that has been accepted from the blinded public. It would be ironic if all these people were blinded by the "narrow spectrum" information you place on your website. Lets see the wider spectrum evidence, lets see all the expert reports, the court transcripts and the actual judgment. Of course, none of us like being told what we should believe. Let us all judge for ourself.

Of course, Panorama is around on Monday. Yet another "innocent even when proven guilty" media spin no doubt. I am though interested in Mr Sheppard's narrative.

NOTHING BUT THE HALF TRUTH

2008-03-06T03:38:00.000-08:00

In the litigation arena permission to appeal/appeal cannot be obtained by publicity alone. Publicity though can influence-which is essentially our argument here. That would be the only reason to use publicity in the Henderson case - to act to influence. The Henderson campaign trial knows how to use its publicity. Money is one objective ie harvesting donations. The other objective is to influence - influencing the public, influencing the courts and blinding everyone with fragments of the truth. That is what the Henderson campaign offers us. It believes the public are unintelligent. It therefore feeds that public, half truths. If said enough, it becomes the fictional truth. The kind of truth that makes people reach deep into their pockets to donate. Of course, to my mind there are a million causes to donate to in the world.

At no time has the audience and the public been presented with ALL the court documentation so that we [ the public] can make up our minds. Of course, much like Labour Party spin, we aren't allowed to assess the evidence for ourselves. We have to be told what to believe and what is right. The Henderson campaign team does not present the medical expert reports for the prosecution on their website and infact we have no court documents at all. To date, no one has placed the entire transcripts online nor any court documentation. Do we conclude that the Henderson campaign trail have something to conceal?

We can though see that the majority of permissions/appeals to fail. The Henderson campaign trail will already have first hand evidence of this. There is nothing like a failed attempt to provide full proof appeal advice. Failure instills confidence in the public? Afterall, England always congratulates the loser and not the winner.

Anyway, we shall move onto other matters relating to appeals itself. This research was commissioned to inform the Committee about factors affecting the success of appeals against conviction. Crime and Criminal Justice Research Findings No. 12 (1996) applies to the Scottish Courts but is nevertheless interesting. "The Sutherland Committee on Appeals Criteria and Alleged Miscarriages of Justice was set up in 1994 by the then Secretary of State for Scotland to examine the criteria governing the consideration of criminal appeals against conviction and the procedures for dealing with alleged miscarriages of justice. This research was commissioned to inform the Committee about factors affecting the success of appeals against conviction and was carried out during 1995 by analysis of appeal records held by Crown Office and the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB), as well as through discussions with lawyers involved in criminal appeals. Factors affecting appeals against sentence were not considered. Some of the main findings are summarised below".

The findings are listed below

Most appeals (65%) were abandoned before the Appeal Court passed judgement on their merits; of the remainder 25% were refused and 10% were allowed.

Most abandonments (85%) took place before the first Appeal Court hearing: 48% were abandoned through a Notice or Minute of Abandonment; 27% through failure (whether intentional or not) to comply with various procedural deadlines; and a further 10% were deemed abandoned owing to the appellant's failure to appear at the first hearing. The remaining 15% of abandonments occurred at or sometime after the first appeal court hearing.

Defence agents thought that several factors influenced the abandonment of appeals. Some were related to the quality of the appeal and were often interlinked (these were: a realisation by the appellant that the initial impulse to appeal was misconceived; an unhelpful stated case or charge to the jury; an unfavourable counsel opinion; and, closely related to the latter two factors, a refusal of legal aid.) Other factors not related to the quality of the appeal but which were thought to lead to abandonment were the refusal of interim liberation and a perceived greater propensity to appeal, regardless of the strength of the case, by people sentenced to custody.

The success rate for appeals ranged from 5% of all appeals lodged against decisions of the High Court to 15% of appeals lodged from district courts. In between were appeals from sheriff court solemn (11% allowed) and sheriff court summary procedures (10% allowed).

Around half of the appeals were based on multiple grounds and a total of 30 different grounds were identified. Many of these were used only occasionally but there was an extremely high use of a small number of grounds, with the five most popular accounting for 68% of all grounds cited. Most of these grounds raised questions about the quality of the evidence rather than being based upon technical points of procedure.

Although the more frequently cited grounds of appeal tended to have higher abandonment rates, they did not generally appear to have different success rates.

Applications for Legal Aid were more likely to be granted for appeals against decisions of the higher courts which reflects the fact that these were the most serious cases. Where legal aid was refused, the appeal was abandoned in three quarters of cases; where legal aid was granted, however, abandonments occurred in less than one-third of cases.

The refusal of interim liberation did not affect the rate of abandonment although it made an early abandonment more likely

To summarise the grounds of appeal more succinctly than the clear ramblings on a neighbouring website

1.misdirection of law;

2.non-direction on the law;

3,failure to refer to a defence;

4. misdirection on the facts;

5.inappropriate comment by the judge;

6. wrongful admission or exclusion of the evidence;

7. defects in the indictment;

8. rejection of no case to answer;

9. jury irregularities;

10. irregularity in relation to verdict;

11. prosecution responsibilities such as non-disclosure or late change in nature of the case.

Now this would be a much better aide memoire for the public.

As for the Sally Clark's case, it was run by the PR machine Quiller Consultants. Of course, it was a media spin machine. Of course, it got her the public sympathy vote. Of course,millions of women cried for her. I have the actual transcripts of the original trial though and its amazing what we find out about Mr Stephen Clark. You see much, like the Henderson case, if we dissect the factual evidence within the trial and the actual evidence, we come to a rather different conclusion. That is of course a matter for another day. One thing is for certain, Quillers controlled what the public heared and what the public read. Of course, much like the Henderson spin machine, only the partial truth is in the public domain. We are interested in facts. That is of course a matter for another sunny day.

Related Links

Forms for Leave to Appeal

CPS material - Appeals to the Court of Appeal

Criminal appeal office - Advice for Relatives

£3000 plus the "Innocent" Card

2008-03-05T13:17:00.000-08:00

Keran's message can be read here. Her community supports her.

Then we all have to remember that Harold Shipman's patients supported him as well. Do criminals often admit to guilt? Well, I suppose they sometimes do. If Keran was guilty, would she admit to it or would she do everything in her power to save face? That is of course the real question. I have often thought that loners who have nothing to save of their reputation often admit to their crimes but those who are a part of a community always maintain their innocence. Keran comes in the second set of people.

A recent newspaper stated as follows "The petition, which calls for "a change in the process which allows wrongful convictions based solely on unscientifically proven theories", was signed by 350 adults". The problem though is that Keran's conviction was on scientific analysis as asssessed by the jury.

My question is this, would a woman with so much in the way of reputation to lose in her community admit to her guilt? I would say probably not. I don't see a lady like Keran who was a main player in the local community admitting to much at all. Then of course there are her children who understandably will believe their mother is innocent. On a balance sheet, this case has more to gain by the "innocent" card. Of course, there is a very remote possibility that Keran could be innocent.

The Henderson campaign is doing well donations wise. We are yet to see any breakdown of the finances. While the Henderson campaign insists that the legal team are working probono, Mr Henderson writes as follows " [Donations page on his wesbite] Your generosity will enable the Committee to assist in the financing of an appeal, and in meeting the direct and indirect costs which are being incurred in supporting Keran and her family during her period of imprisonment. By donating to the fund you are expressing your willingness to right a terrible wrong through the activities of the Committee expending those funds on your behalf".

So there we are, the public is indeed funding Bill Bache's silk handkerchiefs. £3000 plus by now should be funding a few hours of lawyer time. I believe though that there are tons of miscarriages of justice. Personally, I believe funds should be shared between all the families. Afterall, it wouldn't be fair to keep the entire pot of money just incase Keran was actually guilty.

Related Link

Interesting book - A Review of Justice In Error.

Public Funds

2008-03-04T11:49:00.000-08:00

"A website has been set up and a campaign fund started, which, on the first day was sent £3,000 by anonymous donors" Daily Mail [ on the Henderson Campaign Trail].

And more recently the Henderson Campaign stated

"So for clarification, every bit of work being undertaken by the legal team in Henderson is being done pro bono"

So can we have a breakdown of exactly how much campaign funds where raised and what happened to donated money?

I postulate as follows in terms of the pro bono work :-

1. Media stories [ Spinmeister time]

2. Soundbites [ Creator time]

3. Getting further clients on the back of publicity [ Fame]

My question is - have the team got any decent experts to back Henderson or is everyone going to ride on her fame. Thats if she is innocent of course. Perhaps the team is going to play the technicality card and the media card. A winning combination no doubt. By the way, can we get that juror a paediatric textbook from Amazon so she can do some bedtime reading. Much like John Hemming MP she feels unable to read a textbook.

Related Link

http://www.legalservices.gov.uk/

No such thing as a free lunch.

The Minority Report

2008-03-02T12:58:00.000-08:00

In an account in the Daily Mail by Mr Henderson, he writes as follows :-

"One, neuropathologist Dr Waney Squier, suggested Maeve's injuries could have been months old. But that did not suit the prosecution, so the next day they brought someone in to say the injuries must have been more recent. "

Dr Waney Squier works at the John Radcliffe Hospital Oxford. By Mr Henderson's own admission she was the only expert [ out of the possible 12] that had a differing view. She was also the only expert witness that went public .

She then told the Daily Mail ""What I cannot say is whether those injuries were accidental or inflicted. But it's incredibly unlikely it was shaken-baby syndrome. There is absolutely nothing to indicate she was shaken".

So, the words "incredibly unlikely" does not fit with " There is absolutely nothing to indicate she was shaken". "Incredibly unlikely" gives us the idea that there was a possibility no matter how remote. So Waney is seen to contradict herself here. Even worse she states " What I cannot say is whether those injuries were accidental or inflicted". So basically Waney cannot tell us what happened at all. In any event each sentence of hers conflicts with everything else she states in the papers.

In any case, by Iain Henderson's own admission, the jury were already aware of Dr Waney Squire's view when they made their judgment. It is nothing new. The media spin on this is rather interesting. No media outlet tells us how many experts actually supported the prosecution. At the last count there were 12 experts [ I could be wrong].

What is interesting is this, Dr Waney Squier works in the same hospital where Maeve Sheppard had been admitted. The Express pointed out "Maeve was taken to Wexham Park Hospital, then transferred to intensive care at John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford". Waney Squier's witness evidence can hardly be said to be completely "independent". I believe others who have done this sort of thing in the past have been accused of a breach of confidentiality by the scientology award winner. Waney though hasn't been accused of this at all showing that the accusations by the Henderson camp supporter is normally made just for convenience. Dr John Chapman who wrote in the BMJ (2005) about a case already in the public domain. He stated "I posted a response yesterday. I did not include my email address deliberately. This morning I have received an email from PM who is reporting me to the GMC and the Royal College of Paediatrics & Child Health for a perceived breach of patient confidentiality. Beware" .

Of course, I often think that it is a very brave expert witness to go public on a case she has been involved with. This has the net effect of distressing Maeve's parents [ who feel compelled to defend themselves] and influences the forthcoming appeal of Mrs Henderson.

The Henderson case supporter and Scientology award winner then wrote " Finally unless you have obtained permission from the family to give details of the case in which you were an attending doctor, I do believe that you have breached patient confidentiality by leading the reader of your response to the article in which the child's name appears" (2005). Of course, Waney was one of the first doctors to review the brain of this child because it was the hospital where she was treated.

Dr Squier, from the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford, said: "I spend all my life reading papers and studying my field of expertise". It is therefore interesting that she ignores the views of all clinicians in the case completely. Well, she considers herself as a neuropathologist to be the only expert that counts, the rest of the experts are now apparently irrelevant according to her. That is what she and the Henderson camp would like to think anyway. In reality, a conclusion is reached by the view from all specialities. This is called a Panoramic view. Taking her view out of context is simply taking one jigsaw out of a entire picture and coming to a conclusion.

The Daily Mail said of the other experts

"One of them, respected consultant neuroradiologist Dr Neil Stoodley, insisted that scans taken at the hospital showed bleeding in the brain of baby Maeve which was a "marker of a shaking injury. Others said that the little girl had haemorrhages behind both eyes and that her brain had swollen which proved an attack"

In conclusion, it seems the majority view supports the prosecution case. What we are given by the media is a Minority View. In truth, the jury were already aware of Waney Squier's view and summarily rejected it. What we have is a cleverly constructed media spin meister overinflating the importance of the minority opinions.

What is even more interesting is this "A website has been set up and a campaign fund started, which, on the first day was sent £3,000 by anonymous donors". Not bad money for overinflating a minority view and essentially blinding the public. I assume that money has been given to Maeve's parents. At least that is the right thing to do. Either that or Bill Bache has informed the legal aid people of their new found fortune.

Until next time.....

Panoramic Juror Theory

2008-03-01T10:15:00.000-08:00

There are all sorts of advantages to Scientology. The main ethos of Scientology is all about gaining power and influence. Jury tampering isn't new in the world of Scientology. It is though interesting. No doubt in response to this statement, there will be frantic tapping on keyboards in an attempt to discredit me. That's fine, that's what Scientologists do.

In life there are a few types of coincidences and the rest happens due to the laws of physics. The key is to look at the facts of the case and derive some conclusions. We shall of course look at the juror phenomena.

On the 17th December 2007 the Jurors went public.in the Henderson case. On the same day Mon Dec 17, 2007 7:09 pm, a Scientologist award winner writes the following on the http://www.msbp.com/ "Always been my point with these types of cases, other jurors whom I am in contact from other high profile trials say the same thing". Now our question is this, why would the Scientologist award winner wish to know so many jurors. And exactly how many jurors have been influenced? Immediately, the Scientologist Award winner's associate a Mr John Hemming writes a comment on the West Midlands Liberal Democrat website. It is almost as if they were all waiting on the wings for the story to break then immediately [ as we know this is impossible for any MP] had a comment all ready and waiting. I just love the timing of the juror as featured in the media. And shock horror, even the Expert Witness [ one of 12] dresses up for the media. This was just a few days later.

I note that no juror or expert spoke out until the involvement of the John Hemming MP/Bill Bache Team. Isn't that interesting. On the 23rd of December 2007 a few days after the jurors did their soundbites, then came the Times article. The Times article stated " An appeal is being mounted with the help of Bill Bache, the solicitor who organised Angela Cannings’s appeal". We calculate that he must have had the papers for a while. Was Keran Henderson cherry picked for her command of being a "high profile case"? Indeed, why don't we see any other lawyers running the media bandwagon prior to an appeal.

Of course, it would be Bill Bache the man who told everyone that " A certain person did for them what he could never do". You mean like " talk to the newspapers and give them soundbites" that Bill Bache cannot do directly? So if anyone asks Bill, he can truthfully say he was never involved in doing what Alasdair Campbell used to do. Is that what he means? Who does he hand the spinmeister reigns to then? Well, we can think of one person who has always done it.

I always compare the fancy footwork of Bill Bache to a good Tango. He may look like a baffoon and carry a silk handkerchief in his top pocket but we know all about Bill. It isn't just circumstance that the media articles have come in tandem much like a well rehearsed pattern. The media are of course dumb enough to play ball with them all. Its all about selling papers and everyone loves a good sob story.

As I said before, Bill Bache spends his life defending clients. Lawyers say black is white and white is black because it is their profession. Anyway, this is just the start of a interesting tale of intrigue.

This kind of tango can be seen many times over, much like a broken record in each case that revolves around child protection issues. The same team, the same media drive, the attacks on anyone who attempts an opposing argument etc. The overall net result is to damage child protection. Opposing arguments means that person has to be broken down, discredited, taken out of the equation.

This isn't about the truth, it is about bending the truth and it is also about money. Money afterall makes the world go round. Any desperate victim would be happy to take any alms that is offered to them. It is a bit like the film The Picture of Dorian Grey. He sold his soul for his youth. What would any of us do to get out of prison?

Anyway, I shall keep eating my popcorn and watch this case with intrigue. It is all about panoramic views afterall.

Jurors Official Story - The Times

2008-03-01T01:40:00.000-08:00

Is it right for two jurors to speak out in a case pending appeal? 2 Jurors spoke out but the others' didn't. The case contained a majority verdict.

"In an unprecedented move, two jurors recently spoke out to condemn the conviction of Keran Henderson, a childminder, for the manslaughter of 11-month-old Maeve Sheppard while in her care. Their comments, revealed by The Times, were made anonymously. Now, in an exclusive article, the foreman, a lecturer living in Berkshire, questions the practical workings of the jury system"

Read the story here.

An interesting debate on the impartiality of the jury system is raised in the Times article here.

The Keran Henderson campaign trail were obviously happy that the minority of the jurors gave them some hope. We could twist this round and state that the line of hope is the publicity which may even influence the appeal judges. Afterall, all judges read the Times don't they? In the BBC article the juror stated "I will never know as long as I live whether the verdict was right or not because I haven't, we haven't, got all this medical expertise".

Does this mean that the Lord Chancellor should review every jury that has sat on every criminal trial containing medical evidence? Lets face it, every criminal trial has some form of medical evidence. Of course, there are juries who actually go away and read up and there are those who simply sit there and plead naivety. If that is so, this juror should write to the Lord Chancellor and tell him to retry all criminal cases based on the fact that no one understands anything about medicine and they are all incapable of using the Internet or lifting a textbook after the trial. So instead of making these admissions during the trial and asking for more information from the judge/counsels they make their admission of intellectual inferiority after the fact. They could have sought clarification at the hearing itself. They opted not to do so. Nothing is a coincidence of course. I suspect simply telling the CPS by letter or verbally was out of the question was it? No, what they felt compelled to do was advertise it to the entire media.

The Henderson campaign trail has not to date denied a connection with the jurors. There may be no merit in this speculation but nevertheless it has never been excluded.

This has the net effect of influencing the appeal in the Henderson case. I suppose when you have nothing by way of factual evidence then you have to rely on other alternatives such as blinding the public.

Mrs Ruth Sheppard Speaking to the BBC

2008-02-29T12:02:00.000-08:00

A childminder has been jailed for shaking an 11-month-old baby to death. Keran Henderson had been trusted to look after little Maeve Sheppard but killed her instead, Reading Crown Court heard. Maeve Sheppard was initially looked after by her mother. Like many new mothers Ruth Sheppard was torn between her desire to look after her baby girl and the financial pressure to return to work. Mrs Sheppard told the court how she spent every waking moment with her daughter while on maternity leave. She wiped away tears as she remembered a happy, trouble-free baby. She and her husband Mark, who were childhood sweethearts before being reunited in adulthood, had struggled to make ends meet with the wages from Mr Sheppard's job as a toolmaker. Continued here

Minder Killed Baby By Shaking Her Court Told

2008-02-29T11:54:00.000-08:00

Source - The Telegraph

A childminder killed a baby girl in her care by shaking her violently, a court heard yesterday.
Keran Henderson, 42, is said to have shaken Maeve Sheppard so violently that she was blinded and suffered terminal brain damage. She died in hospital two days later. Henderson, who was looking after the 11-month-old and other children at her home in Iver Heath, Bucks, told ambulance staff that Maeve had suffered a sudden fit as she changed her nappy advertisement

But the jury at Reading Crown Court was told that there was no medical evidence to support this claim. Henderson, a registered childminder, was employed by Ruth Sheppard, 36, and her toolmaker husband Mark, 38, to mind their only child, following a recommendation from a local playgroup. She was described as "very good with children" and was used by a number of parents.

On the morning of March 2, 2005, Henderson dialled 999, telling the operator that Maeve had suffered a seizure, was limp and had sunken eyes. A hospital examination found that the child was suffering from bilateral retinal haemorrhaging — bleeding behind both eyes. It was concluded that this was caused by either shaking or a shaking impact.

There was no evidence of external injury to cause the condition, said Joanna Glynn, for the prosecution. Maeve's parents were told there was no hope of a recovery and they had her christened in hospital hours before they agreed to her life support machine being switched off.

"The cause of death was given as head and neck injuries and it is the prosecution's case that these injuries were non-accidental," said Miss Glynn.

"It is our case that Mrs Henderson violently shook Maeve and the medical evidence is that that act caused Maeve's death."

Maeve had been unwell in the weeks before her death, but this did not explain the injury to her brain. She was said to have been "whizzing around" in her walker only hours before she was taken to hospital. Continued here.

Yahoo Chat Outcome

2008-02-29T11:51:00.000-08:00

"12 EXPERTS told how she was shook violently causing her neck to 'overextend' but Keran still proclaims she is innocent and needs to be freed, she compares herself to the miscarraige of justice that has applied to four mothers who lost their child to COT deaths, yes this was a tragedy but how can a child who had so many traumatic injuries have died if she had not shaken her. Is three years really a long enough sentence for this little girls life???

Continue the discussion here

Justice4Maeve

2008-02-29T11:46:00.000-08:00

"how did an 11 month old have a brain injury, snapped her neck, have retinal damage and brain swelling in the space of 5 hours in someones care if nothing but a fit happened" As quoted from http://justice4maeve.blogspot.com/

Childminder Keran Henderson jailed for shaking baby to death in a fit of temper

2008-02-29T11:25:00.000-08:00

"Medical experts told the court that the child’s fatal brain injuries could only have been caused by a shaking so violent that it caused her neck to snap back and forth"

Source - The Times

"A childminder was jailed for three years yesterday for shaking an 11-month-old baby to death. Keran Henderson, 42, collapsed in the dock as a jury at Reading Crown Court convicted her of killing Maeve Sheppard in a fit of temper. The infant was taken to hospital critically ill in March 2005, but her life-support machine was switched off two days later, after a bedside christening" Continued here